Gov't to reexamine economic impact of 25% emissions-cut goal

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TOKYO, Sept. 30 Kyodo -
The government decided Wednesday to reexamine the economic impact on Japan when
the country achieves its goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 25
percent from 1990 levels by 2020, a pledge Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has
made on the world stage.
The government will study whether to set up a working team to implement
Hatoyama's promise, which also includes financial and technical aid to
developing nations in tackling climate change, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano told a news conference after a Cabinet committee meeting on curbing
global warming.
''We are going to realize (Japan's initiatives) by using all policy tools,''
Hatoyama told reporters separately, saying that the issues of a cap-and-trade
emissions trading system and taxes should also be debated in the process.
Hirano, the top government spokesman, said the government plans to complete the
fresh economic analysis by key U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December,
which is aimed at crafting a new international framework on slashing
heat-trapping gases to combat climate change.
The previous government led by the Liberal Democratic Party compiled an
estimate saying the 25 percent reduction target would cost each Japanese
household about 360,000 yen (about $4,019) a year. The scenario is based on an
assumption that Tokyo will fulfill the goal only through domestic efforts.
Hirano stressed the new government's 25 percent cut target includes carbon
dioxide to be naturally absorbed by forests and the purchase of emission
credits from abroad. ''The point will be how much emission reduction through
domestic efforts we can count on,'' he said.
''Our analysis will not be based on data presented by the government led by
(Prime Minister Taro) Aso. We'll reexamine the impact from our own
perspectives,'' he said. Hirano also showed eagerness to win public
understanding on Japan's efforts to cut greenhouse gases.
He said the government will examine data submitted by think tanks and hear
opinions of experts in formulating the new estimate.
Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa has already instructed Environment Ministry
officials to work out fresh data on the economic impact by the year-end because
he believes the existing estimate ''puts too much emphasis on financial
burdens.''
Hatoyama, Hirano, Ozawa, Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Economy, Trade and
Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Finance
Minister Hirohisa Fujii were among the participants in the Cabinet committee
meeting.
==Kyodo
2009-09-30 22:46:21