TOKYO—Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said in late December, and reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050.  The country's green growth strategy, which targetisthe hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October 2020 pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century.

Suga has made green investment a top priority to help revive the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and to bring Japan into line with the European Union, China and other economies setting ambitious emissions targets.