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Tuesday April 8, 9:24 PMLEAD: Fukuda sees need for Japanese action plan to tackle global warming(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING DETAILS)Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told an economic council meeting Tuesday he believes that Japan should have an effective action plan at an early date for halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota said. Fukuda will ask a panel of experts he set up last month to formulate such a plan to realize a low-carbon society, according to Ota, who spoke at a news conference to explain the main issues discussed during a meeting of the key government economic council. Ota said she believes such an action plan would be the first of its kind for Japan. The prime minister made the remarks after Japan Business Federation Chairman Fujio Mitarai and three other private-sector members of the council urged the government to spell out a concrete strategy for combining "theory and practice" regarding environmental issues, as otherwise discussions on such issues often end up with sheer idealism. The four members of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy also asked the government to urgently study whether to introduce an emissions trading system and other methods that incorporate economic incentives to address climate change. Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita, who attended the council meeting, said one of the ministry's study groups is planning to put forward specific ideas on how to implement an emissions trading system in Japan by around mid-May. As to meeting Japan's own requirement of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by an average 6 percent from the 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, the members said Japan should come up with "a concrete progress schedule." To meet the numerical target, they recommended that the government immediately examine the feasibility of adopting environment taxes and a daylight-saving time system, as well as looking at the country's late-night culture. The private-sector members also called on the government to promote the expanded use of nuclear power plants, solar power and other renewable energy sources. In order to secure national funds to protect the environment, they said Japan should have extended the provisionally raised, but decades-old, gasoline tax of about 25 yen per liter, which expired March 31. Japan has pledged to the international community that it will work with other countries to halve CO2 emissions by 2050 and improve energy efficiency by 30 percent by 2020 on a global basis. The private-sector members also include Uichiro Niwa, chairman of trading house Itochu Corp., Takatoshi Ito, professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics, and Naohiro Yashiro, professor of economics at the International Christian University. |
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