As host for the yearend Third Conference of the Parties to a United Nations climate change agreement, Japan is in a sticky position. It is expected to be innovative in framing a proposal for cutting so-called greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels. Yet its own leaders cannot agree on how fast or hard to push for change. In an effort to avoid appearing either too timid or too radical in its proposal for setting binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the government of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto proposed October 6 that industrialized countries cut emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 5 percent of their 1990 levels by the year 2012 at the latest.
Critics see the proposed reduction as too limited.
Each of the 150 or so countries that is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is making recommendations in hopes of reaching agreement on binding emissions targets prior to a December 1-10 meeting in Kyoto to establish such protocols. Since Japan is the host, its proposal has received more attention than usual. According to October 9 news reports, Mr. Hashimoto told representatives of the two parties that have formed a parliamentary alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that he would consider revising the draft after further consideration of ways in which Japan might meet stricter emissions limits. The chances are slim, however, for any significant near-term change in the 5 percent target because government environmental experts will be busy at an October 22 planning session in Bonn explaining Tokyo's current proposal and its codicils. The task of setting an emissions target is complex for a variety of reasons.