Yukio Hatoyama - sticking to his pre-election pledge on emissions cuts
Two positive developments recently - the EU has called for an international ban on the trade of the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna - and the Japanese Prime Minister announces his plans to cut carbon emissions 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
More on the tuna elsewhere on the blog, but let's look at what's going on in Japan. A new government has just been elected, and the new Japanese prime minister is a welcome change from the previous one, who had promised just 8% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Despite pressure from the usual corporate suspects Yukio Hatoyama, unlike many other politicians, stood by his election promises and stuck to his plans to cut Japanese emissions dramatically. This is significant news as Japan is the world's fifth biggest polluter and is the first developed nation to openly commit to large cuts in emissions by 2020.
With the EU and Japan both announcing plans for significant cuts, the US is left looking increasingly isolated among the developed countries. Even if the Waxman bill to cut emissions is passed, it will still mandate only around 4% in equivalent cuts. The EU has promised to 20% cuts by 2020 and by 30% if other nations agree to similar targets.
Greenpeace believes that emissions cuts by developed countries should be at the higher end of the range suggested by the UN as necessary to bring climate change under control - around 40% by 2020.
Japan's proposal comes with a caveat - the 25% cut is conditional on all major polluters also agreeing to make cuts. So for once, the caveat might actually help put pressure on others to join Japan in setting ambitious targets, and to seriously evaluate their environmental commitment.
The Copenhagen summit in December this year has been referred to as the 'last chance to save the planet'. Japan's announcement is exactly the kind of bold thinking I'd like to see coming from all the major polluters.
