""Residents of Kobe City, Japan, are fighting a coal power plant financed by Japanese megabank," 09 April 2024

One of the threats to their health is the Kobe coal-fired power plant[s]... which are located only 400 meters away from residential areas. Civil society and residents in the surrounding area have been fighting for many years to stop the construction and operation of these units.

Kobe City has a history of serious air pollution... In addition, the area’s industry is also emitting enormous amounts of CO2.

...KOBELCO is the largest fixed source of CO2 and air pollution in Kobe City...

In 2014, KOBELCO announced plans for the construction of the two coal-fired power units of 650 MW each. From the start, residents have strongly opposed this plan. In the first-ever case of its kind in Japan, Kobe citizens filed a major petition for a pollution mediation process against the Hyogo Prefecture in 2017... Residents then filed a civil lawsuit against KOBELCO, ..., and Kansai Electric Power Company (Japan’s second-largest utility company with a sales agreement with the power plant)...

In another attempt to fight for the health of their city, Kobe residents filed an administrative lawsuit against the government in November 2018, challenging the approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the coal plant expansion...

In addition to the Japanese government, commercial banks Mizuho, SMBC, and MUFG also play a crucial role in fueling the proliferation of coal power plants...

The two disappointing court decisions and the three banks providing loans to the project despite the health impacts demonstrate Japan’s lack of a sense of urgency when it comes to climate change and its effects on people...