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Japan pressured to show numerical target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Japan and other parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change have come under pressure to unveil their respective numerical targets for reducing greenhouse gas emission by the end of May 2015.
A draft of a statement by the chairman of the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the convention under way in Peru that proposes the deadline was released on Dec. 8 (Dec. 9, Japan time). The proposal on a new framework for cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be discussed at ministerial talks that begin on Dec. 9, but developing and developed countries remain at odds over the details of the new framework.
In particular, Japan, which has lagged behind other parties in discussions on its target for reducing gases that cause global warming, will be urged by other parties to set its numerical target at an early date.
Parties to the convention are aiming to reach an agreement on a new framework to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for countermeasures against global warming at the COP 21 scheduled to be held in Paris at the end of next year.
Under the new framework, all parties including developing countries will be required to show specific targets they are supposed to set voluntarily, unlike the Kyoto Protocol that mandates only developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Countries participating in the convention have so far agreed to submit their targets by March 2015 if they are prepared to do so. However, little progress has been made on debate on the issue in Japan because Tokyo has not set a clear energy policy, including the desirable ratio of power sources, such as nuclear power and renewable energy, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The government has pledged to submit its target as early as possible, but fallen short of clarifying when it can do so.
In contrast, the European Union has decided to aim for at least a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, while the United States has set a goal of cutting emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. China has also announced that it will push its emissions downward after peaking sometime around 2030.
The draft statement by the chairman also urges countries that are unprepared to set numerical targets to submit their goals by May 2015 or as early as possible if they cannot make the deadline.
A member of the Japanese delegation stopped short of making a clear-cut comment on whether Japan can make the deadline. "We agree to hold discussions based on the draft proposal by the chairman. We won't oppose the deadline in order to make progress on the debate and we won't comment on our domestic discussions on the issue," said a member of the delegation.
The draft proposal also urges all parties to the convention to consider whether developed countries should incorporate measures to lessen damage caused by floods and drought in developing countries and implement financial assistance to that end in their goals.
The chairman has thus shown consideration to both developing countries, asking that such assistance be mentioned in the proposal, and developed countries, asking that they be allowed to focus mainly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.