Japan Press Weekly

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2016 October 19 - 25 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Diet discussions on bill to ratify Paris Agreement begins

Japan’s parliament on October 19 finally began to discuss the bill to ratify the Paris Agreement, a new international framework to combat global warming starting in 2020. In an Upper House interpellation, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kurabayashi Akiko condemned the Abe government for having put a higher priority on ratifying the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal than the environmental agreement.

Kurabayashi noted that compared to other countries, Japan’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% from the 2013 level by 2030 is “too low”. “The government should set a more ambitious target immediately,” she said.

The JCP parliamentarian also denounced a government plan to build more coal-fueled power plants for going against the spirit of the Paris accord which aims for a carbon-free society. She urged the Abe administration to scrap its basic energy program which designates nuclear and coal-fired power as key base-load power sources and introduce renewable energy sources on a large scale.

Past related article:
> Gov’t should immediately focus on ratification of Paris Agreement rather than TPP: JCP Kokuta [October 6, 2016]