Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday it will stop taking new construction orders for coal-fired power plants as it makes a strategic shift to cleaner, renewable energy.

The decision in a medium-term business plan released the day comes as the trend toward creating a greener society through substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions is gaining traction.

Toshiba will still complete existing orders for coal power plants.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has vowed to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and U.S. president-elect Joe Biden also made the same pledge during campaigning.

Under the current plan compiled before Suga took office in September, the Japanese government aims for renewable energy to account for nearly a quarter of the country's total power generation in fiscal 2030 while fossil fuels, including coal, will make up about half.

Japan has faced criticism from environmentalists for building coal-fired power plants overseas, particularly in Southeast Asia.

In the April-September period, the Japanese industrial conglomerate reported a net profit of 3.49 billion yen ($33 million), swinging back into the black for the first time in two years. Sales fell 19.9 percent to 1.37 trillion yen and operating profit plunged 94.0 percent to 3.11 billion yen.

It expects total sales to fall 8.8 percent to 3.09 trillion yen for the current business year through next March while operating profit is projected to drop 15.7 percent to 110 billion yen.

Toshiba has not released its net profit outlook.

==Kyodo

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