Stumbling stone at Cancun
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However, compared with Japan's increase, emissions in Germany had declined 22.4 percent from their 1990 level by 2007. Britain has cut its greenhouse gas emissions 17.9 percent from its 1990 level and France 5.8 percent.
Japan has only 2 percent of the world's population, however it ranks fifth in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Japan's increased emission volumes reveal its irresponsible attitude toward the protocol.
In December 1997, Japan set up a government agency responsible for coordination and implementation of climate change policies and it laid out policy guidelines on global warming in June 2008. In April 1999, a bill was introduced to promote implementation of the country's measures targeting global warming.
At a speech delivered in June 2008, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda promised a 60 percent to 80 percent cut in the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from the current level. In September 2009 as leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama made promises the government would cut emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from the 1990 level. After becoming Japan's prime minister, Hatoyama put forward initiatives at a UN climate summit meeting to promote technology transfer from developed to developing countries. He also recommended that developed nations, including Japan, allot a sum of money to contribute to global emission reductions.
Despite being a country that possesses state of the art energy conservation technologies, Japan needs more concrete action in combating climate change.
It is hoped that Japan will neither obstruct the ongoing global climate talks in Cancun nor shift international attention to China. Tokyo should remain mindful that in 2008 the sales volumes of Japan's China-based enterprises accounted for 11.4 percent of Japan's overseas enterprises, but these ventures also added to China's emissions volumes.
Japan should try to strengthen cooperation with China instead of lashing out at it.
The author is a researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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