UN urges Japan to be ambitious on cuts

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon today asked Japanese prime minister Taro Aso to set an "ambitious" target for Japan's greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 to tackle global warming, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News.

Officials told the agency that the UN chief outlined the importance of setting a good example to the developing world on emission-reduction targets.

The prime minister plans to announce Japan's mid-term reductions target on Wednesday, but the government is facing opposition from the business community which says the recession and tough targets could be crippling.

Ban also told Aso that he is looking to Japan for leadership at a key UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December to adopt a new climate treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the agency reported.

One option under consideration – a seven per cent cut in CO2 by 2020 from 1990 levels – is opposed by the Japan Business Federation and some other business groups for being too big, while environmental groups and experts have called for a more ambitious target.

The US climate change bill currently passing through the committee stage outlines a cut of CO2 levels by 2020 equivalent to 1990 levels.

Earlier this month, Ban Ki-moon told Reuters that the draft US climate bill did not go far enough to cut greenhouse gases.