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At a time when negotiations for a new international agreement to tackle global warming faces rough going, the Japanese government is promoting an introduction of a "bilateral credit system," which is denounced by civic groups as creating a loophole in mechanism to enforce greenhouse gas emission cuts and obstructing international efforts. According to a working group of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the newly-proposed system is to provide assistance to developing nations with low-carbon technologies under a bilateral agreement and recognize the CO2 reductions the nation achieves as carbon credits which Japan can use for reaching its own emission reduction target. Business demand The Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997 requires industrialized countries to commit themselves to a reduction of greenhouse gases while allowing some complementary measures such as the clean development mechanism (CDM). The METI, however, says that the CDM takes time because it has to be verified by the United Nations and prefers the bilateral credit system which can be implemented with only two nations' consensus. "The new system aims to gain overseas markets and thus bring a positive effect on the economy," the ministry's working group expressed in its statement published in September. Ministry officials have acknowledged that the system reflects the business circle's demands. Calling for voluntary goals The first commitment period set by the Kyoto Protocol will end in 2012. Negotiations for a post-Kyoto framework is running into difficulties due to the different interests of the parties concerned. The Japanese government is opposed to a conclusion of a legal binding treaty like the Kyoto Protocol. It has called on the international community to adopt its "voluntary target" scheme which has not made any visible progress domestically. The WWF Japan warns that the introduction of the bilateral credit system could be recognized as Japan's rejection of multilateral negotiations and a mechanism that will block a new international framework. |
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