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2014 December 10 - 16 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Japan should step up efforts against climate change

Akahata editorial

The 20th Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has come to a close in Lima, Peru. All countries at the meeting accepted the chair’s proposal after long and tough negotiations regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. This will accelerate the process of negotiations in preparation for the COP21 scheduled for December next year. In the latest session, the Japanese government showed a lack of enthusiasm in facing up to the need to address issues related to climate change because it has yet to set its GHG reduction target. International NGOs gave Japan the “Fossil of the Day Award” for its negative attitude to international efforts to tackle climate change.

Seeking to keep temperature rise within two degrees Celsius

Global warming due to carbon dioxide and other GHGs has caused frequent extreme weather and severe damage to natural environments worldwide. Countermeasures need to be taken immediately. In order to mitigate the devastating impacts of global warming, a rise in the average temperature should be contained within two degrees Celsius from the pre-Industrial Revolution level. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in November issued its fifth report, arguing that if GHGs continue to be discharged at the current pace, the average temperature will increase by up to 4.8 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his speech at the beginning of the COP20, it is necessary to face up to the reality that “the window of opportunity is fast narrowing.”

Delegates to the COP20 engaged in discussions on a new international framework for reducing GHG emissions starting in 2020. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries and developing countries have “common but differentiated responsibility” and the latter are not obliged to cut their GHG emissions. The United States refused to ratify the accord. The new framework will require all countries to reduce GHG emissions, and member countries will declare their reduction targets by next spring and seek to make an agreement in the COP21 next December.

After the European Union set its target to reduce GHG emissions 40% by 2030 compared to the 1990 level, the U.S. and China, the world’s number one and two GHG emitters, also announced their own reduction targets. During the COP20, negotiations floundered over whether developed nations should assume obligations to aid developing countries with funds. In order to reach an agreement in the COP21 next year, it is essential for parties to settle differences and accelerate their efforts for decreasing global warming gas emissions.

The delegation from Japan, which is the world’s fifth largest GHG emitter, failed to present a reduction target, only saying that it will curb emissions “ASAP”. Japan’s isolation has become clear during a ministerial meeting at the conference when other nations’ delegates urged Environment Minister Mochizuki Yoshio to set a clear goal without delay.

It is totally irresponsible for Japan to insist that it is impossible to establish a reduction target until it gets a clearer perspective on energy supply, including the nuclear share of electricity output in Japan. Even after the radioactive substances from the crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant heavily damaged the environment, the Abe government still clings to promoting atomic power generation.

If the government honestly reflects on the consequences of the Fukushima disaster, it should abandon its nuclear power-dependent policy. What it should do now is to cut global warming gas emissions by wholeheartedly promoting the use of renewable energy. If Japan fails to do so, it will become even further isolated in the international community.