The gap between Japan and the developing countries is far larger. Although these figures, which are affected by the size and climate of each country, are not a perfectly accurate indication of consumption, they leave no room for doubt that Japan has the highest level of energy efficiency in the world. If Japanese advanced technologies were introduced into developing countries, where the marginal cost for measures to deal with environmental issues is low, more greenhouse gases and air pollutants could be reduced. Japan should therefore change the way it thinks about current policies so that its technologies can be used through the Clean Development Mechanism. If this mechanism enables Japan to achieve its target for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions while helping to improve the environment in developing countries, Japan's national and global interests will be served.
Projects jointly conducted with developing countries can be risky.
They face institutional barriers and defects in developing nations that take special efforts to overcome. Developing countries make demands on the financial resources and technologies of their industrialized partners as conditions for the implementation of CDM projects. Nevertheless, given the factors outlined above, activation of the CDM is surely the most desirable option. As an incentive, I give the following example of the kind of win-win situation that is quite likely to become more common after CDM comes into force. The partial liberalization of the electricity industry has just begun in Japan, and electric power companies are fighting desperately to strengthen their competitiveness by reducing costs.