Japan's government says that companies producing basic materials such as chemicals will need tens of trillions of yen in investment to achieve carbon neutrality.

Huge amounts of coal and other fossil fuels are used in the steel, chemical, cement and paper sectors. The industry ministry estimates the cost of getting them to net-zero by 2050 is 24 trillion yen, or about 185 billion dollars. That includes significant amounts of capital investment as well as spending on research and development.

Officials say the steel industry will need around 77 billion dollars, and the chemical sector 57 billion dollars.

The costs for the cement and paper industries are estimated at 32 billion dollars and 18.5 billion dollars, respectively.

To promote technological developments toward carbon neutrality, the government has set up a fund worth 2 trillion yen, or about 15.3 billion dollars.