Japan to present climate finance philosophy at Barcelona talks+

TOKYO, Oct. 29 Kyodo -
Japan will present its philosophy on how to finance costs to help developing
nations tackle climate change during U.N. climate talks in Barcelona next week
which will lay the groundwork for a key U.N. conference in December in
Copenhagen, Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa said Thursday.
Ozawa said Tokyo will ''unveil part of its proposal on a financing mechanism''
to address climate change at the Barcelona talks, which will open Monday.
The scheme will be part of the so-called ''Hatoyama Initiative'' on financial
and technical aid for developing nations to combat global warming which was
presented by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama last month, Ozawa added.
The government held its first meeting on the initiative on Thursday, with
Ozawa, Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan and senior vice ministers concerned
examining Japan's concrete support plans for industrializing nations before
U.N. climate negotiations face the moment of truth.
The financing issue is expected to be a major agenda item during the Barcelona
conference through Nov. 6, the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting in
Scotland slated for Nov. 6 to 7 and a ministerial gathering in Copenhagen in
mid-November to prepare for the December talks that is expected to craft a new
framework to fight climate change.
Although Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change, reportedly said it will be ''physically impossible'' to
finalize all the details of a treaty against global warming at Copenhagen,
Ozawa said Japan will not give up on its efforts to reach a deal.
''Expectations are high for the Hatoyama Initiative, so we need to work on
specific proposals to entice developing nations,'' Ozawa said.
At a U.N. climate summit held in New York in September, Hatoyama proposed that
Japan and other industrialized nations should contribute ''substantial, new and
additional public and private financing'' to developing countries.
Hatoyama also said there is a need to create a system to recognize emissions
reductions by developing countries ''in a measurable, reportable and verifiable
manner'' and to strike a balance between protecting intellectual property
rights and promoting the export of low-carbon technologies.
As a way to generate the necessary financial resources to aid developing
countries, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan supports an international
solidarity levy -- a taxation system for cross-border currency trading
activities and airline ticket purchases.
Hatoyama has indicated that Japan plans to offer Indonesia a yen loan worth
$400 million by year-end to help the country address climate change as the
first arrangement under the initiative.
==Kyodo
2009-10-29 22:58:49