EU Chair discusses Kyoto Protocol with Japan opposition parties

EU Council of Ministers Chair Kjell Larsson (Swedish minister of the environment), held a meeting with four opposition party executives on April 10 in the Diet to discuss the issue of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Pointing out that the U.S. is unlikely to ratify the Protocol, the EU delegation requested the four parties to press Japan's government to ratify the agreement regardless of the U.S. decision to disapprove the pact.

Fudesaka Hideyo, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission chair said, "Japan itself should ratify the Protocol without delay. Japan which chaired the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Kyoto (December 1997) has a responsibility to persuade the U.S. We will firmly appeal to the Japanese government to fulfill its duty."

The rest of the opposition party members who were present at the meeting stated similar opinions. (end)