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TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The global economic downturn will help reduce Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions by some 50 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the current fiscal year, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.
Citing a preliminary analysis by the environment ministry, Kyodo said this new estimate could affect Tokyo’s discussions on crafting steps to tackle global warming and also how much Japan would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Emissions rose to 1.371 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the last fiscal year to March 2008. [ID:nT173861]
Japan is the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has been seen a long way from meeting its obligations under the Kyoto pact. Its Kyoto goal is to reduce emissions to 1,186 million tonnes in CO2 equivalent a year between 2008 and 2012, bringing emissions down 6 percent from 1990 levels. [ID:nT305392]
Tokyo has vowed to buy 100 million tonnes of CO2 offsets between 2008-2012 from developing countries or eastern European nations which are well below their Kyoto targets.
While it has also pledged to cut emissions by 60-80 percent from 2005 by 2050, it has previously stopped short of a medium-term goal as some industry sectors argued that their competitiveness would be hurt by spending extra to improve already energy-efficient factories.
Japan’s top climate policy advisory panel will meet on Thursday to discuss various scenarios on how to set a medium-term target, which Prime Minister Taro Aso said will be unveiled by June.
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