What is the Green Innovation (GI) Fund? – Part 1 What Future Will We Create? The GI Fund: An Exciting Seed Brought to Fruition

Greenhouse gases are considered to be the main cause of global warming. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the risk of abnormal weather events and food crises is expected to increase, necessitating rapid implementation of global countermeasures. Against this backdrop, initiatives aimed at “carbon neutrality” – balancing emissions from economic activities with absorption through forest conservation and afforestation – are underway in many countries. Japan is set on achieving this goal by 2050.

Yet it will prove impossible through the efforts of individual consumers alone, or if companies and organizations work in isolation. Private companies and organizations will need to transcend barriers and come together to rethink the very structure of society. With this in mind, the Japanese government established the Green Innovation (GI) Fund to support ambitious efforts by private companies and organizations. The fund has already led to the realization of a number of advanced technologies, some of which can be seen and experienced at the Japan Pavilion during Expo 2025.

Today we discuss the GI Fund initiative, including why it was created and what it can accomplish.

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Greenhouse gases include CO₂, methane and N₂O (nitrous oxide). Since the Industrial Revolution, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by humankind has skyrocketed. Further, while in the past it took 5,000 years for the temperature to increase by 7°C (0.14°C per 100 years), global temperatures have risen by approximately 0.74°C in the past 100 years alone. The global average temperature in 2024 exceeded that of 2023, which was already the hottest year ever recorded, and the global temperature has risen 1.5°C since before the pre-Industrial Revolution period. This is attributed to the increased energy usage by humans following the Industrial Revolution, which led to a sharp rise in greenhouse gas emissions. 

In addition to gasoline-powered cars and fossil fuel-based electricity for household appliances, even the food in our supermarkets involves energy consumption in processes like raw material production, processing and transportation. In this way, what we consume on a daily basis also generates greenhouse gas emissions. 

The impacts of global warming are already appearing in many forms. Rising sea levels are inundating small island nations such as Kiribati and Tuvalu in the South Pacific, threatening their future habitability. Climate change is also reducing crop harvests and fish catches, raising the risk of serious food crises. Global warming is also causing more frequent typhoons, torrential rains and other abnormal weather events. Damage from heat waves and floods, as well as health hazards from excessive heat and cold, are also increasing.

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While there is strong demand to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many environmental measures are often perceived as costly for businesses. Developing environmentally friendly products and changing production processes require labor and capital investment costs, which take time to recover. The GI Fund was established by the Japanese government to support forward-looking companies that see environmental measures not as a cost, but rather as an opportunity for growth, and are willing to radically alter their existing business models and strategies.

Since its inception in 2020, the GI Fund has catalyzed many exciting projects, including new technologies and the research successes that can be seen and experienced at the Japan Pavilion.

Although the GI Fund may not be visible in our daily lives, it functions in a range of situations as a driving force to societal change. In Part 2 of this article, we interview four companies and organizations participating in the Japan Pavilion exhibition selected under the GI Fund project, introducing the background of their initiatives, and asking many probing questions of those in charge.