In the Media
Japan says it won’t extend carbon reduction pledge
June 17, 2011
ABC News
Japan affirmed Thursday it will not extend its legal commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases after they expire in 2012.
Japan has said it aims to reduce carbon emissions 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, but it will not make that pledge part of a binding agreement unless all other major economies join in an emissions-reduction treaty.
The fate of the landmark Kyoto document, which pegged nearly 40 countries to specific emissions targets, is the main contentious issue as 193 countries prepare for an major end-of-year climate conference in South Africa.
China, India, Brazil and other big emitters pledged to keep emissions below their normal growth trajectory, but they have refused to make those commitments legally binding. They argue that the wealthy countries caused the problem with 200 years of industrial development, and they cannot accept legal constrictions to their own modernization.
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Keywords: 1990, 2020, Asia, carbon emission, japan, Kyoto, Kyoto Protocol