Japan sets 2020 climate target, some say weak

Japan unveiled plans on Wednesday for greenhouse gas cuts over the coming decade only marginally deeper than its current U.N. commitments, a step green groups say threatens to deal a blow to global climate talks.

The world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter has been under pressure from developing nations to go for deep greenhouse gas reductions by 2020, to show leadership in talks on a new climate pact in December.

But Prime Minister Taro Aso, facing an election in a few months, had to balance fighting climate change with the needs of industry and the demands of voters during the nation's worst recession since World World Two.

The 2020 target is equivalent to a cut of 8 percent below 1990 emission levels.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Japan committed itself to cutting emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels in the 2008-12 period, but has struggled to meet that goal.

"It is an extremely ambitious target that aims to reach a 33 percent improvement in energy efficiency, more than the 30 percent rise in efficiency achieved during the oil crisis (in the 1970s)," Aso told a news conference on Wednesday.

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Source: Reuters