Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Yasutoshi Nishimura, led a public-private mission that included 16 companies to Canad to discuss collaboration on building a strong supply chain for battery metals.

“Canada has an abundance of battery metals and good market access to the United States,” Nishimura told a news conference.

“Canada is one of the most important countries for Japan when it comes to strengthening our supply chains of storage battery metals,” he said.
He declined to give details of the talks but said he would take various opportunities, including an upcoming G7 ministerial meeting, to reinforce cooperation with Canada, Reuters reported.

As the chair of the Group of Seven nations (G7) this year, Japan will hold a ministerial meeting on climate, energy and environment in the city of Sapporo on April 15-16, ahead of a G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21, to promote what it calls a realistic energy transition.

Batteries are key for Japan as it strives for carbon neutrality by 2050 as they are the most important technology in the electrification of automobiles and other devices and essential for boosting the adoption of renewable energy.