The incoming Democratic Party government in Japan has added conditions to its ambitious 2020 greenhouse emissions reduction target, weakening somewhat its bold pre-election climate policy commitments.
In the run up to the recent election which saw the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ousted for only the second time in 54 years, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) promised to lift the country’s emissions reduction target to 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 with no mention of any conditions.
The promise amounted to a big rise over the LDP’s 8-per-cent target and those of many other developed economies. After winning the August 30 election, the DPJ has been under pressure to confirm its commitment to that key climate target. It’s significant for global negotiations on a new climate treaty set to climax in Copenhagen in December, currently stalled over the target commitments of developed and developing nations.
However, DPJ secretary-general and senior party figure Katsuya Okada said in an interview with Reuters that the new government would only pursue 25-per-cent cuts as part of a comprehensive global agreement that commits other nations to targets.
"This is not something Japan will do on its own. The premise is an agreement that includes other countries such as China and India," Okada told Reuters.
The higher conditional target from Japan brings the developed world one step closer to a unified position that would meet a key UN and developing world pre-condition for a global agreement. But it further isolates the crucial player, the United States, which appears highly unlikely to lift its targets much beyond the target levels currently being discussed in Congress – cuts amounting to around 4 per cent below 1990 levels.
Scientists on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say developed nations must cut emissions by 25-40 per cent by 2020 to avoid dangerous climate change of plus 2 degrees Celsius.
Full background:
Japan election: Impact for global climate talks