Japan wants developing countries, including China and India, to accept a legally binding greenhouse gases emission cuts at the upcoming 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties on climate change at Copenhagen.
Kazua Kodama, press secretary of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters here on Wednesday that the percentage of commitment could be negotiated as long as there was a politically and legally binding agreement.
Japan has been advocating for a legally binding post-Kyoto Protocol agreement by the major economies like the United States of America, India and China as also the developed nations. Japan believes that it may be difficult to agree on a legally binding greenhouse gases emission cuts at the Copenhagen meeting but hopes that the political leaders would be able to arrive at a agreement on a "fair and effective legal commitment". "Some countries have made domestic commitments to cut down on greenhouse gases which could be made as a binding commitment at the international forum," said Mr. Kodama. This included India's National Action Plan on Climate Change which made some ambitious commitments on the domestic front, he added.
Pointing out that Japan was ready to accept larger responsibility to reducing greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050 from the current levels, Mr. Kodama said the cut-off year was still under negotiations. He said it was unfortunate that none of the developing nations had committed to specific emission cuts at the G-8 meeting at La Aquila though the developed nations had agreed on targeted cut.
On bilateral agreements between various countries on climate change, Mr. Kodama suggested that rather than going in for bilateral arrangements, we should concentrate more on multilateral agreements to arrive at a meaningful outcome at Copenhagen.
On the Hatoyama Initiative announced by the government under which Japan commits to a 25 per cent cut in carbon emissions subject to commitments by other major economies, Mr. Kodama said Japan was yet to take a final position on it since much would depend on how negotiations shaped up at Copenhagen.
On the just conclude Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, Mr. Kodama said there was a shared sense of urgency over climate change at the meet to make Copenhagen a meaningful venture.
