## 3 Towards the Establishment of Low Carbon Society

At the Bali Conference, the Bali Action Plan and other agreements were made aimed at drawing up a new framework by 2009 for reducing greenhouse gases to succeed that of the current Kyoto Protocol. Discussions on the subject have already begun. Mountains of issues need to be resolved. All countries must cooperate to overcome their differences in opinion and position in order to tackle this global crisis.

## (1) Japan's Prime Minister Fukuda's Special Address at the Davos Meeting

Every year, the World Economic Forum convenes its annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland (hereinafter referred to as “Davos Meeting”). At the January 2008 Davos Meeting, as the chair of the July 2008 G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, Prime Minister Fukuda gave a special address on global warming, which was selected as one of the Summit’s major agenda items. The Prime Minister presented the concept “Cool Earth Promotion Programme” and the following three means to translate the concept into concrete actions:

1) Under the post-2013 framework, as the world’s GHG emissions must peak (hit the highest level and then decrease) in the next ten to twenty years, the Prime Minister called on the United Nations to examine at the earliest possible time strategies and measures to halve this peak by 2050. To follow up on the agreements made at the Bali Conference, the Prime Minister said that Japan is resolved to work with major emitters to set quantified national emissions reduction targets to reduce GHG emissions in the future. To ensure that the reduction obligations are “fair and equitable,” Japan proposed setting the target based on sectoral basis energy efficiency and reduction volume that would be achieved based on the technology to be in use in subsequent years to provide a scientific and transparent measurement (sectoral approach).

2) As for international environmental cooperation, the Prime Minister proposed setting up a common goal for the world to improve energy efficiency by 30%, cooperating actively with developing countries' efforts to reduce emissions, such as those to enhance energy efficiency, and creating a 10-billion dollar funding mechanism (Cool Earth Partnership) to extend assistance to developing countries suffering severe adverse impact as a result of climate change.

3) In terms of the development of innovative technologies that are vital to realizing drastic reduction of GHG emissions and facilitating the transition to a low carbon society, the Prime Minister disclosed that Japan would invest about 30 billion US dollars in the next five years for research and development in the areas of the environment and energy. He also said that Japan would conduct a fundamental review of its societal systems to facilitate its transition to a low carbon society.

## (2) The Fourth G20 Dialogue

In March 2008, the Fourth Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development (the so-called “G20 Dialogue”) was held in Chiba, Japan. This Dialogue was launched as a result of an agreement from the Gleneagles Summit held in the United Kingdom in 2005. The Fourth Dialogue was the last of the Dialogue series. Ministers and senior officials responsible for energy and environmental issues from the European Commission and 20 countries, including G8, emerging economies such as India and China, and other developing countries, participated in the Dialogue to discuss global warming issues. The 20 countries account for 80% of the world’s GHG emissions. The ministerial level meeting, co-chaired by Ichiro Kamoshita, Minister of the Environment and Akira Amari, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, focused discussions on the issues of “Technology,” “Finance and Investments”, and “Post-2013 Framework.” The meeting ended gaining political momentum and awareness among both developing and developed countries to cooperate in establishing an effective post-2013 framework. In accordance with the agreement from the Gleneagles Summit, the outcome of the G20 Dialogue will be reported at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit to be held in July 2008.

## (3) Toward the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit

Thanks to the adoption of the Bali Action Plan, the world has come to a consensus to start seeking solutions to global warming issues. Although differences in opinion and position among countries still exist, encouraging signs have emerged. For example, Australia, which had not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, agreed to do so at the Bali Conference.

The G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit will be held in Japan this July. Continuing from last year, global warming will be one of the major agenda items. Japan has made prepa-