2026-10-11T03:34:19Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34036987 2026-09-30T21:22:53Z category_272 category_39 category_45 category_64 category_106 portal_87 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Critical discourse analysis on Japan’s carbon neutrality declaration in October 2020: rationale of the government’s decision Mariho Asai (25146421) Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Sociology Cancer Science Policy Net-zero policy process critical realism ecological modernization climate governance <p>This study examines discourse and structural conditions that facilitated Japan’s 2020 carbon neutrality declaration given the increased need to elucidate sociopolitical drivers underlying recent net-zero policy shifts. Policy texts, discourse and practices, and structural conditions were analyzed using Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis. Textual analysis (description) identifies the ‘virtuous cycle of the economy and the environment’ and top – down leadership rhetoric as textual values. The interpretation stage reveals that these values reflect a dominant discourse of weak ecological modernization, influenced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s political motivation to dismantle bureaucratic silos and implement regulatory reforms. Finally, the explanation stage demonstrates that discourses and political practices were underpinned by three interrelated structural conditions, namely, Japan’s centralized kantei-shudo (cabinet-led) governance system, changes in global financial and economic structures, and Japan’s historical energy insecurity. By demonstrating the operationalization of discourse within institutional and material constraints in the formation of climate governance, this study contributes to environmental policy research by providing a holistic understanding of how radical policy shifts are enabled and legitimized beyond conventional actor-based explanations.</p> 2026-09-30T21:22:53Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.34036987.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Critical_discourse_analysis_on_Japan_s_carbon_neutrality_declaration_in_October_2020_rationale_of_the_government_s_decision/34036987 CC BY 4.0