Japan might take back its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter, according to an officials statement on December 5, 2012. The recent update might be a blow to the already committed talks on global warming in Doha.
In the year 2009, Tokyo promised that it would cut its planet-warming emissions by at least 25% from levels seen in 1990, by the beginning of the next decade. The country also said that it would reduce its emission levels, provided other major polluters like China and the US also make sharp reductions in their emissions.
The proposed emissions target was one of the most ambitious of any industrialized country and it won appreciation from many environmentalists. However, as Japan has now pledged to give up nuclear energy, the earlier pledge would be difficult to fulfill.
Shuichiro Niihara, an official from Japan’s environment ministry said, “Japan is discussing how to achieve its pledge of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020, including the possibility of revising it”. Niihara added that the goal was set before the nuclear disaster last year, but even with the generation of nuclear power it was going to be very difficult to realize. The massive earthquake and tsunami led to the reactors at Fukushima in to meltdown, throwing Japan’s energy plans into disorder.
