24.02.23 / Embargo / Press Release

Ukrainian call for G7 leaders to act at 1-Year of invasion: Japanese and Ukrainian groups demand Japan to end purchase of russian energy exports

Tokyo, Japan / Kyiv, Ukraine // February 24, 2023, marks one year since the russian invasion of Ukraine, and it's time for the G7 to act. The people of Ukraine are suffering tremendously from the damage of the fossil fuel funded russian military invasion. We call on the russian government to stop the war immediately, and on the rest of the world, especially Japan as it leads the G7 this year, to sever its ties with the russian fossil fuel business that is funding this war.

Tokyo, Japan/Kyiv, Ukraine -
February 24, 2023, marks one year since the russian invasion of Ukraine, and it's time for the G7 to act. The people of Ukraine are suffering tremendously from the damage of the fossil fuel funded russian military invasion. We call on the russian government to stop the war immediately, and on the rest of the world, especially Japan as it leads the G7 this year, to sever its ties with the russian fossil fuel business that is funding this war.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will preside over this year's G7 Hiroshima Summit, is expected to deliver a message of peace with a focus on the war on Ukraine. If PM Kishida truly wants the Hiroshima G7 Summit to be an opportunity to send a message of peace, he should not hypocritically condemn the situation. PM Kishida must not allow Japan to continuously buy fossil fuels from russia, which only funds putin's war machine. To break away from the "addiction to fossil fuels", as the UN Secretary General Guterres states about this situation, PM Kishida needs to send a clear political stand at this G7 summit, and back a full embargo of russian fossil fuels.

Svitlana Romanko, Ukrainian climate activist, environmental law expert, and Director of Razom We Stand an Ukrainian climate NGO, commented: “As the tragic one-year anniversary of the war approaches, the good will of many national leaders to stand with Ukraine must be turned from words into real actions. Japan, which holds the G7 presidency this year, has not stopped importing fossil fuels from russia, which is still making millions daily from fossil fuel exports to feed its brutal war machine. The world sees the continuing massive human suffering by people in my country everyday, yet Japan directly funds this suffering when its government doesn't simply stop the money flowing to russia. We demand that global leaders, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in particular, tighten up sanctions, stop being the largest buyer of Russian LNG as of January 2023 and introduce strict enforcement measures that hold violators accountable when they contribute to war crimes in Ukraine. That’s how we defeat fossil fueled dictator putin and bring peace and justice to Ukraine.”

Masayoshi Iyoda, Interim Team Lead of 350.org Japan, commented: "In the 100 days following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Japan was reportedly the world's largest importer of Russian coal. Japan is the only G7 country that has been slow to move away from coal-fired power generation and is not ready to support the phase-out of all fossil fuels. Prime Minister Kishida needs to send a strong message to the G7 Summit that we must accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels, which cause tension in international relations, and promote real solutions of energy conservation and renewables that contribute to peace and climate justice."

Press Contacts:
Jason Kirkpatrick, Snr. Communications Mgr.Razom We Stand;
[email protected]
Masayoshi Iyoda, Interim Team Lead of 350.org Japan:
[email protected]

BACKGROUND/Citations: 
[Support Letter by Japanese climate group 350.org] Japan must cut ties with Russian fossil fuels and stop financing fossil fuels globally
https://world.350.org/ja/press-release/20220316/

Latest Articles
RAZOM WE STAND CALLS ON THE UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT TO ALIGN WITH EU CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS, START MEASURING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Press Release

As Ukraine's application for EU candidacy is being fast-tracked, and the EU is scrambling to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the move to have Ukraine comply with environmental accounting standards (GHG protocol and SBTi) and make data on  GHG emissions public is vital. Only with such measures can Ukraine and the EU meet recommendations of the UN IPCC scientific report this week.

 
Energy response to Russia's war: open letter with four requests to the EU
Campaign Updates

                                                                                          To: Ursula von der Leyen  
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium

Frans Timmermans
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium

Charles Michel
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175  
B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel 
Belgique/België
 
Razom We Stand calls on the Ukrainian authorities to implement greenhouse gas emissions accounting in accordance with international standards and open climate data for public access
Campaign Updates

The organization reached out to Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Chair of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Ihor Verner, to stress the critical importance of accounting for greenhouse gas emissions.

 


 
The methane rush off the climate cliff: EU and US must halt gas infrastructure expansion
Article

Razom We Stand strongly condemns the global push for gas infrastructure expansion, including LNG terminals, given the dire environmental and climate consequences, as well as financial risks involved in creating stranded assets. With excess windfall profits stemming from market volatility worsened by Putin’s brutal invasion in Ukraine, the gas industry must be subject to taxation and regulation, not supported with public subsidies for their expansion plans.