Japan wastes chance for energy rethink

The end of the Abe era is unlikely to lead the country to increase its unambitious target for renewables

Moves by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elite—in choosing a replacement for outgoing prime minister Shinzo Abe—to favour the voices of party lawmakers over rank and file members mean that a rare chance for a radical energy policy rethink is being lost. Abe’s chosen successor will complete the country’s longest serving prime minister’s curtailed term of office, which runs until September 2021. In normal circumstances, party lawmakers and rank and file members would have equal numbers of votes to make that choice. But Abe’s decision to resign due to ill health is being used to justify a reweighting of influence. The election process that starts on 8 September gives 394 votes to