Timid goal won't do to cut greenhouse gas

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Timid goal won't do to cut greenhouse gas
Akahata editorial

The key international talks on global warming are to conclude in six months. The COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference at the end of the year will set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The task now it to stop and reverse the increasing trend of the global gas emissions and set out to implement emission cuts.

The Japanese government will soon decide its midterm goal to cut emissions. Developed countries, which are the major gas emitters, have a great responsibility for emission cuts to be implemented together with developing countries. The government must return to the fundamental issue of global warming and set a bold goal.

Toward a low-carbon society

Two reports were released last week on the study of the adverse effects of global warming.

A study on the global impact of greenhouse gas emissions estimates that more than 300,000 people die every year, mainly in poor countries which are not responsible for gas emissions, that 325 million people are suffering serious ill effects, and that the world is experiencing an economic loss of about 125 billion dollars. Representatives of U.N. agencies, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and national research institutes took part in the study. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who headed the survey, stressed the urgent need for cutting gas emissions and warned that political leadership is too weak.

The other report is on the predicted effects on Japan of global warming. It was made by researchers that include those from the National Institute for Environmental Studies and other laboratories and universities. It estimates that the country will face an annual loss of about 17 trillion yen in the late 21st century due to floods caused by torrential rain, damage from high tides due to major typhoons, and deaths from heat stroke, unless countermeasures are taken.

The two reports show that it is essential for Japan to establish a low-carbon society.

However, the government discussion on midterm goals is seriously marred by not being based on scientific findings.

The government has come up with six options for the midterm reduction plan, including a 4 percent increase and a 25 percent cut, as a goal to be achieved by 2020, from the 1990 level.

These plans are intended to benefit the industrial sector by ostensibly increasing international competitiveness.

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) has expressed its support for the 4 percent increase plan.

Keidanren says it support this plan because it meets with the criteria of international "fairness". It cites cost effectiveness for reducing CO2 by one ton as criteria for choosing the "4 percent increase" plan in disregard of the various existing indexes of measuring the "fairness", including the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per capita. It is intended to set the smallest possible goal of reduction on the grounds that Japan is the most advanced country in regard to energy conservation. In making cost analysis comparisons, it demands that the currently maintained economic system continue, more crude steel be produced, and the current traffic volume be sustained.

Such an argument cannot placate the public in Japan as well as internationally. The government must focus on implementing significant measures to address the pressing issue of global warming.

Fulfill Its International Responsibility

In a statement "How Should Japan Fulfill Its International Responsibility to Combat Global Warming" published about a year ago, the Japanese Communist Party called for a 30 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020 as Japan's mid-term goal. The JCP proposal maintained, "To be concrete, the following measures are urgently needed; official agreements binding business circles to reduction targets; an environment tax to promote reduction in fossil fuel use; and a national emissions trading scheme to accelerate substantial reduction."

Developed countries are called upon to cut their emissions by 25-40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 (midterm goal). This requires Japan to set its own midterm goal so that it can take the initiative on this global issue. If Japan fails to do so, it will continue to be seen as an obstacle to international climate change talks.

Unless the Japanese government fulfills its international responsibility, it cannot expect developing countries to implement the measures to combat global warming.

- Akahata, June 4, 2009