20 Mar 2008 - Japan
long insisted it could meet its Kyoto goals
through voluntary measures and buying credits
for fighting global warming overseas. But
it is well behind its goals.
Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda established a working group earlier
this month to look at possibilities to set
up a cap-and-trade scheme for greenhouse
gases. The group might give its conclusion
before the G8 meeting in Japan early next
July.
“If Japan were to establish
an emissions trading scheme it would signal
the world it is indeed serious about avoiding
dangerous climate change and that this government
is aiming for a successful G8 Summit”, said
Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate
Programme.
WWF argued in its report
that Japan should introduce mandatory emissions
trading for CO2 emissions for the energy
conversion, industry and industry process
sectors.
“While in the absence
of international trading the costs in 2010
may outweigh the immediate benefits of an
ETS somewhat, by 2015 the economic merits
from nurturing green industries already
amount to US$ 137 billion”, WWF said.
It could even reduce
unemployment to 4% by 2025 as compared to
6,3% under a business as usual scenario
without emission trading.
Such a scheme would
cover 64% of the country’s emissions. WWF
said the scheme should be up and running
in 2010, and that it initially should aim
to set Japan on track to comply with its
Kyoto target.
Under Kyoto, Japan has
pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions
to 6% below 11000 levels in the 2008-2012
period. However, annual emissions currently
stand at 6% above the 1,272 million tonnes
of CO2 equivalent that were emitted in 11000.
Japanese companies are
among the most active buyers of UN-regulated
carbon credits under the clean development
mechanism (CDM) and joint implementation
(JI) of the Kyoto Protocol.
However, opposition
among the country’s industrials against
mandatory CO2 targets has been fierce. The
country currently only has a small-scale
voluntary carbon trading scheme in operation.
The recent initiative
by the Prime Minister has created some expectations
that the situation could change, and earlier
this week, Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita
met with officials of the Japan Association
of Corporate Executives to seek consensus
on how a domestic scheme might look.
The European Union currently
operates the world’s largest mandatory cap-and-trade
scheme, covering some 12,000 facilities
across Europe, with links to a similar scheme
in Norway.
State-level emissions
trading schemes are emerging on both US
coasts, while several bills are circulating
in the federal legislature for various proposals
for a federal US scheme.
Christian Teriete
Communications Manager Asia-Pacific
Global Climate Change Programme
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WWF reaction to European
Council conclusions on climate change
14 Mar 2008 - Brussels,
Belgium - At the European Council just concluded
in Brussels, European heads of State and
government have failed to support the unconditional
30 per cent greenhouse gas emission reduction
target by 2020, which is deemed necessary
for Europe to do its fair share to combat
climate change.
Instead, European leaders
have stressed the need to analyse economic
impacts of climate protection on large polluters
and potentially exempt some industrial sectors
from the polluter pays principle entrenched
in the EU Emission Trading Scheme.
“European leaders continue
to focus on the dinosaurs in the energy
intensive industry rather than on the potential
for innovation, jobs and export opportunities
that measures to reverse climate change
could create. They run the risk to miss
the big picture of the huge costs Europe
and humanity will have to face if no serious
action is taken now,” says Dr Stephan Singer,
Head of European Climate and Energy Unit
at WWF.
“We are extremely disappointed
that leaders did not commit to support for
developing countries’ fight against climate
change and its consequences”.
WWF hopes that in the
coming months the European Parliament and
the Council of Ministers will be courageous
in resisting business pressure and make
bold decisions that match the scale of the
climate change challenge, not only in Europe
but also in developing countries, for the
well-being of future generations.
On a positive note,
heads of State have committed to finalise
the EU energy and climate package by the
end of the year, to come with a positive
result to the international negotiation
in December 2009. To ensure this result
is positive, in June the European Council
needs to recommit to an unconditional 30
per cent domestic cut of climate pollution
in Europe.
Dr. Stephan Singer, Head of European Climate
and Energy Unit at WWF
Claudia Delpero, Communications Manager
at WWF European Policy Office
