Keidanren: Japan can reduce CO2 emissions

In what I think might be a major policy change in Japan, the chairman of Japan's largest business organization has called for a nationwide campaign against global warming. According to NHK, at a meeting of the Japan Business Federation and its affiliated organizations on Wednesday, Fujio Mitarai admitted that Japan will likely fail to meet the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions set under the Kyoto Protocol unless more serious efforts are made:

He stressed the need to take urgent measures to curb emissions, particularly from households and public service sectors, two major sources of carbon dioxide. Representatives from businesses and consumer organizations participating in the meeting exchanged views on the need to reduce greenhouse gases. They agreed that companies should continue to pursue energy saving measures, while households should be urged to use more eco-friendly electric appliances and reduce their use of family cars. The Japan Business Federation plans to step up cooperation with the government to strengthen the anti-global warming campaign.

According to Reuters, Mitarai also said the scheme to succeed Kyoto should include the United States as well as India and China, which do not have reduction targets:

Japan has repeatedly said it will not let the Kyoto Protocol lapse without a framework to succeed it after its 2012 expiry, but has shied away from any commitments of its own, although European nations have set tough targets.

One of the proposals put forward on Wednesday by Fujio Mitarai is that Japan should put its clocks forward for summer daylight saving as a way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Reuters notes that Japan aims to cut its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by six percent in the 2008-2012 period from the 1990 level under the United Nations-led Kyoto protocol. But its actual emissions rose 0.6 percent in the year to March 2006, leaving it 14 percent above the Kyoto goal, and Mitarai offered no specific goals for Japanese industry to work towards in cutting its own emissions.

"Now it is quite difficult to achieve it. The major cause of the increase in CO2 emissions is the residential sector," Fujio Mitarai, said in an opening speech to an environmental seminar.

"The introduction of summer time would be effective in reducing residential emissions."

The Keidanren policy proposals made public on Wednesday are available on their website in Japanese here, and I will post the link as soon as they post an English translation.

(Photo: NHK World)