JAPAN-ENVIRONMENT: Greenhouse Gas Target a Joke, say Critics

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Oct 8 1997 (IPS) - Environmentalists see Japan’s announcement Monday a conservative target for curbing greenhouse gas emissions as proof of how diplomacy and pressure from industry have sidetracked environmental issues ahead of a December conference on climate change.

As host of the Kyoto negotiations on commitments on climate change, Japan’s position on proposed targets to be adopted by the world’s industrialised nations has been awaited for some time.

But far from setting the momentum for meaningful cutbacks on emissions of greenhouse gases that spur global warming, activists say Japan’s proposed target — the reduction in such emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2010 — would have little impact.

“It is clear as crystal. Pleasing big brother United States and bowing to pressure from industry is what will guide Japan in Kyoto,” said Yurika Ayukawa, who is in charge of global warming issues at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Tokyo. The WWF criticised as a “joke” the 5 percent target.

In a statement, Greenpeace called the proposal an “international disgrace”, adding that adoption of the 5 percent target in the December meeting in Kyoto would delay real action on climate change by 10 years.

Based on the 5 percent formula, Japan, the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, would have to make scarcely a 2 percent reduction by the year 2010.

Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are meeting in Kyoto to adopt stricter commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries, which account for majority of such emissions.

The framework requires industrialised countries to return caron dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000, but negotiations are underway to revise these inadequate targets.

In the run-up to Kyoto, several formulas have been proposed. The European Union wants a reduction in greenhouse gas levels to 15 percent below 1990 levels. But media reports say the EU is likely to step back from that position because its minimum position is for a 5 percent reduction, which parallels the Japanese stand.

The United States, the largest source of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, opposes any target-setting and wants all countries to decide on their own goal.

Negotiating new targets has became a tortuous process, pitting developed against developing countries that want to see greater action on part of richer nations, and dividing industrialised countries along different proposals.

Greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide, come from the burning of fossil fuel, including power plants. They are trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and help warm the planet. Rising temperatures are projected to disrupt the global climate, including sea-level rises that would flood low-lying areas like the South Pacific islands.

But while the environmental logic is strong, taking actual action to curb greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries heavily dependent on industry is much harder.

Citing heavy economic losses that would result from reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, powerful industry sectors in the U.S. and Japan have delayed categorical commitments from the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

The Japanese media have joined the outcry for better leadership from Tokyo in environmental issues. In an editorial , the ‘Yomuiri Shinbun’, Japan’s largest daily said the Japanese government leaves many questions unanswered — including how exactly it plans to achieve its proposed 5 percent commitment.

The only support Tokyo has received has come from Washington, which received a letter from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto just before Japan’s announcement this week, and the Keidranren, the largest domestic business association with close ties with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

In a report released two weeks ago, the ministry estimated that up to 1.7 million people could lose their jobs if Japan met the emission reduction target of 5 percent, and reduced industrial output to cut emissions.

On Monday, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he was pleased with Japan’s proposed figure. The U.S. has yet to announce a target, and environmentalists see this week’s Japanese decision as easing some of the pressure Clinton faces from the American industrial lobby.

With its diplomatic and business interests appeased, Tokyo now appears set to tackle its more vociferous critics and negotiate with the European Union.

Japanese officials defend their position by explaining that success at Kyoto would come not from arguing about an impossible goal, but adopting a realistic approach to global warming.

“Global warming is a problem. Nobody denies that. But it is impossible to force nations to agree on a target so soon,” argued Yasuhiro Inagawa, director of the Agency of Natural Resoruces and Energy at MITI. Japan as host must seek a firm commitment at Kyoto and that is “more than enough”, he added.

But environmentalists say lobbying for stricter targets is bound to become harder in Kyoto given Japan’s stated priorities. “Japan must and should be able to break away in Kyoto from its kowtowing to the U.S.,” Ayukawa said.

Activists are all the more frustrated because they believe there is popular support for greater Japanese commitment on global warming, though the government has taken a conservative position. A September survey by the prime minister’s office shows that 82.2 percent of respondents favoured legal measures toward curbing carbon dioxide emissions.

Environmentalists are also putting forth arguments that illustrate how reductions in emissions can be made without painful economic losses.

In a report, WWF says that by the year 2010, Japan can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 14 percent from 1990 levels, through the rapid penetration of more fuel-efficient hybrid cars to replace gasoline and diesel vehicles

WWF also calls for other measures, ranging from more energy- efficient appliances to adopting regulations to curb excessive lighting in supermarkets and commercial buildings.

In short, the WWF report says Japan is well able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by far more than its proposed 5 percent formula — if it has political will.