How Japan’s G-ROUTE PROJECT Will Decarbonize the National Road System

Japan’s G-ROUTE PROJECT is a nationwide plan to redesign roads as engines of decarbonization and community value. Launched alongside the historic 2025 revision of the Road Act, it embeds sustainability into the core mission of road infrastructure for the first time since 1952. The initiative targets the road sector’s sizable carbon footprint by decarbonizing construction materials, accelerating LED adoption, expanding EV charging, enabling renewable energy generation, and promoting low-carbon logistics.
A central innovation is the use of carbon credits to unlock private sector collaboration and make low-emission transport economically viable. Combined with new public-private co-creation forums, the project represents a decisive shift: roads will no longer be single-purpose assets but multi-functional platforms that support energy, ecology, mobility, and community well-being.

How will Japan’s G-ROUTE PROJECT turn the national road network into a platform for decarbonization, clean mobility, and public value creation?

Japan’s G-ROUTE PROJECT marks one of the most consequential shifts in modern infrastructure policy. Triggered by the 2025 amendment to the Road Act, the initiative embeds decarbonization and sustainability into the legal foundation of the nation’s road network. For a sector responsible for roughly 18 percent of Japan’s total CO2 emissions, this change is both overdue and transformative.

At its core, G-ROUTE establishes a national “Green Network” that aligns infrastructure with climate goals, nature-positive design, and human-centered mobility. The project is guided by

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