Nordic Talks Japan: Energy Security as Driver for the Green Transition

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the subsequent sanctions, and Russia’s limitations on its natural gas exports to Europe have revealed the inherent vulnerabilities of being dependent on importing energy resources like oil, coal, and natural gas. For many countries, among them the Nordics, these developments have given new impetus to the discussion on how to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, both to increase energy security and to ensure an adequate energy supply, in addition to the climate concerns.

On December 8th, Nordic Innovation House Tokyo, the 5 Nordic Embassies in Japan, and the Finnish Institute in Japan held a Nordic Talks Japan event to further discuss the topic. We had an exciting venue provided by our partner University of Creativity at Akasaka Biz Tower in Tokyo. Online and offline participation combined, we had a total of around 120 participants listening to the discussion.

The Ambassador of Denmark, Peter Taksøe-Jensen made the opening remarks for this talk and the Danish contribution to the panel was Lars Lose from CIP (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners).

In his opening remarks, the Ambassador from Denmark to Japan H.E. Peter Taksøe-Jensen mentioned that Russia has created a new energy crisis for all of us, and that green transition is no longer a matter of climate change but is in the interest of international and national security. He mentioned the offshore wind initiative in the North Sea region as an example of collaborative acceleration of green transition and emphasized the necessity to make sure that fossil fuels are not used as a weapon against democracy.

Follow the whole discussion on the recording here.

Thank you to all the panellists and participants and to the University of Creativity for hosting the event.