Climate change and greenhouse gas reductions were prominently featured in Asia’s two largest economies in August.

The Democratic Party of Japan decisively defeated the long-standing Liberal Democratic Party, promising Japanese many changes, including green reforms. The new government promises GHG reductions of 25% over 1990 levels by 2020, which is significantly more aggressive than previous goals, and a challenge for a country that is already one of the most efficient in the world.

On August 27th, China’s National People’s Congress passed a resolution that said China will “draft laws…for fighting climate change” and will strive to “strengthen energy saving and emission reductions,” on top of ambitious renewable energy targets, which call for a 15% renewable energy mix by 2020.

By Jeff Beyer, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)