Hiroyuki Mori: Selected as one of the "100 Most Influential Leaders in Climate Change"

In short, I believe I was recognized for conducting support activities rooted in the field to encourage self-help efforts by the energy industry regarding climate change issues.

Specifically, within the trend of decarbonization and low-carbonization, I believe they evaluated JOGMEC's efforts toward methane emission reduction in the LNG value chain, such as technical cooperation and development with various companies in Asia including Japanese firms, and building relationships with Japanese LNG buyers. This is the result of my colleagues' hard work, so I am grateful to them.

Since around the end of the 20th century, climate change has been recognized as a very serious problem because greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere lead to global warming. Major greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which are emitted when using fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal.

Consequently, the view emerged that using these as energy sources was inappropriate, and since the start of the 21st century, the introduction of so-called renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, has taken place worldwide.

Furthermore, the Paris Agreement was concluded at COP21 in 2015, where countries agreed to achieve carbon neutrality—essentially net-zero CO2 emissions—by around 2050.

However, in February 2022, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. This highlighted the instability of energy supplies, particularly in Europe, which relies on natural gas imports from Russia, and the importance of energy security was reaffirmed in many countries.

Additionally, generative AI has been developing rapidly recently. Since data centers for AI require massive amounts of electricity, power demand is growing worldwide. Given these factors, I believe it is still difficult to supplement stable and sufficient power with renewable energy alone.

Yes. For the time being, it is thought that the situation of having to rely on existing energy sources such as natural gas will continue. The 7th Strategic Energy Plan, approved by the Cabinet this February, reaffirms the importance of renewable energy while also positioning natural gas—which is said to have relatively low greenhouse gas emissions—as an important energy source even after achieving carbon neutrality.

Japan liquefies natural gas and imports it as LNG, but if we are to continue using natural gas in the future, we need to decarbonize the LNG value chain—that is, the production and transportation processes. As specific means for this, methane emission reduction and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) technology, which recovers and reuses CO2, are attracting attention. Note that technology that recovers and stores CO2 without reusing it is called CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage).

To address climate change, we must simultaneously expand renewable energy that does not emit greenhouse gases and consider how to reduce greenhouse gases that are inevitably emitted from fossil fuels during the production process. I believe that efforts such as methane emission reduction and CCUS will become pillars of a realistic decarbonization strategy.

At present, CO2 itself does not generate value, so it is quite difficult to determine who will pay that cost. Last year, a law called the "CCS Business Act" was enacted, and the government is currently discussing what specific public support will be provided. Also, when it comes to burying CO2 underground, some people are concerned about the relationship with earthquakes, so promoting social acceptance is another challenge.

Furthermore, in Japan, demonstration efforts have been carried out to reduce technical risks related to CCS, and I believe technical challenges are gradually being overcome, but cost reduction remains an issue.

The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) is an implementing agency for Japan's energy policy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, established in 2004.

At the time of its establishment, its main operations were exploration and development of oil, natural gas, and metal mineral resources, resource stockpiling, and metal mining pollution prevention projects. In 2012, geothermal projects, which are renewable energy, were added. Furthermore, looking toward the realization of a carbon-neutral society, new roles have recently been added, such as support for the production and storage of hydrogen and CCS, and surveys for offshore wind power generation.

Energy needs to be procured stably at affordable prices, but at the same time, sustainable energy development that considers climate change issues is also very important. Low-cost and stable supply, and environmentally friendly supply—in industry terms, this is called the energy "Trilemma"—and we must achieve these three in a well-balanced manner.

In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry develops energy policy based on the "S+3E" philosophy. This is the idea of simultaneously realizing Energy Security, Economic Efficiency, and Environment, with Safety as the major premise. JOGMEC also supports projects in Japan and overseas based on this principle.

The Director General's job is to oversee the entire energy support business, from oil and natural gas to hydrogen for decarbonization and CCS. Support includes financial support such as investment and debt guarantees, technical support such as geological surveys, project evaluation, and technology development, and intelligence support such as information collection and dissemination.

An "Executive Director" (Riji) is equivalent to what is called an officer in a normal company. The Chairman is the President. In an Independent Administrative Institution, the Riji are legally the officers.

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a greenhouse gas, and it is said to have a higher greenhouse effect than CO2 when released into the atmosphere. Therefore, to prevent global warming, measures to keep methane leakage during the production and distribution of natural gas as low as possible are extremely important.

However, measuring methane emissions is quite difficult. Installing sensors and monitors on every single piece of equipment in a factory would incur significant costs. On the other hand, what is important is to measure appropriately, report it appropriately, and have it certified appropriately. This process is called MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification), and establishing MRV is essential above all else for methane emission reduction.

Efforts toward international standardization of MRV are being led by the IMEO (International Methane Emissions Observatory) of the UN Environment Programme. When it comes to standardization, discussions tend to be led by Europe and the U.S., but JOGMEC believes it is important to firmly make arguments rooted in the climate of Asia, where weather conditions differ from those in the West.

JOGMEC is also working with Japanese companies and national oil companies in various Asian countries to develop measurement technologies for methane emissions. Specifically, this includes technical consultations such as measurement at operation sites and improvement proposals for leak locations.

Furthermore, as part of the AZEC (Asia Zero Emission Community) proposed by Japan as a framework to aim for decarbonization while supporting Asia's remarkable economic growth, we are promoting an initiative called "CLEAN." CLEAN stands for Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-zero. This involves LNG buyers requesting LNG producers to disclose information on methane emission reduction measures for each LNG project. JOGMEC serves as the secretariat, compiling the collected information and publishing it on a platform. I believe that the disclosure of information on methane emissions and reduction efforts on a project-by-project basis—a world first—and the new perspective of a consumer-side approach toward cleaning the LNG value chain were what TIME magazine evaluated.

As a policy implementation agency, an Independent Administrative Institution coordinates closely with policy authorities. We also work together with private companies in promoting projects.

I think the fact that JOGMEC possesses the three functions of finance, technology, and intelligence is very unique even among public institutions. We provide these three services to customers as a "catalyst" connecting Japan's energy policy with business in the field.

Our customers are diverse, including the Japanese government, Japanese companies, foreign governments, foreign companies, and international organizations. I think we are a rare public institution globally in the sense that we provide services by organically combining JOGMEC's functions to meet the needs of various customers.

Japan is the world's second-largest LNG importer, importing about 70 million tons of LNG annually. Among the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a goal for "Responsible Consumption and Production." We believe that as a consuming country, we must fulfill our "responsibility to use." As long as we use energy resources that involve greenhouse gas emissions, efforts to minimize methane emissions in the LNG value chain are indispensable.

I began to think that a direction using LNG with low greenhouse gas emissions was necessary about 10 years ago. At that time, I had the opportunity to discuss how to balance environmental protection and LNG exports with people from British Columbia, Canada, who have high environmental awareness.

The discussion progressed with the idea that if LNG were produced using power obtained from the province's abundant hydroelectric power, it could be differentiated as low-carbon, environmentally friendly LNG. While LNG is difficult to differentiate as a commodity, we thought that environmentally friendly LNG would command a premium.

This awareness of the issue became the trigger for facing clean LNG and methane emission reduction. In the future, due to methane emission regulations in Europe, low-carbon LNG may become a must rather than a premium. The times move fast.

Changes in the world are intense, and the future is very hard to see. For an unpredictable world, I believe that as a public institution, we need to prepare many menus that meet diverse needs.

In addition to methane measures, I want to continue supporting the exploration and development of oil and natural gas as low-cost and stable energy sources based on a good understanding of Japan's energy policy, and I also want to promote the supply of hydrogen and CCS, which were added as new roles.

Going forward, I want to contribute to the stable and low-cost supply of energy to Japan and the development of a sustainable international society through various types of diversity, such as diversity of target resources, diversity of services provided, and diversity of domestic and foreign customers.

I thought the Department of Political Science seemed like a place where I could study many things. Political theory, political thought, and international politics were already glamorous back then, and there were so many interesting themes like sociology, mass media theory, and area studies. My seminar was Professor Makoto Tsuruki's mass media theory research group.

Since I had time, I did nothing but read books during my university days. For example, Masakazu Yamazaki's "The Acting Spirit," Mill's "On Liberty," Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom," Roland Barthes' "The Third Meaning," John Berger's "Ways of Seeing," Michel Foucault's "The History of Sexuality," and Lévi-Strauss's "The Savage Mind." I think having read many books has been very useful for various analyses after becoming a working professional.

At the time, the Asahi Super Dry commercial featuring Nobuhiko Ochiai, the father of Yoichi Ochiai, was popular. An oil field appeared in it, and I thought it looked cool (laughs). In the oil and natural gas industry, there are international companies called the Majors or the Seven Sisters that handle everything from development to transportation and refining, which Japan didn't have, and I felt an attraction to that. I didn't know about the organization called the Japan National Oil Corporation, which supports Japanese companies engaged in oil and natural gas development overseas, but when I heard about it, it sounded interesting, so I joined.

I want them to practice "investigating for oneself and thinking for oneself." I feel there is too much information overflowing lately. Precisely because it is an era where it is hard to know what is correct, you need to be able to investigate for yourself, think for yourself, and properly select even the news.

This talk about "selecting news" is something my seminar mentor, Professor Makoto Tsuruki, used to say. What I remember well from his classes was that amidst an overflow of information, you must think firmly with your own head and select the news.

That's right. There is a harsh trend in the world against fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, but I wonder if it's really okay without fossil fuels. Carbon neutrality is of course important, but a professional skepticism about what is actually supporting reality might come from the attitude of investigating and thinking for oneself.