UN Climate Change Conference

Japan criticized for trying to kill Kyoto Protocol

By Li Jing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-12-01 14:00

Cancun, MEXICO - Japan was strongly criticized for its attempt to kill the Kyoto Protocol, the only existing mechanism that binds industrialized countries to limit their carbon emissions.

Special Coverage: Cancun Climate Conference 2010 Related readings:  Call for concessions at climate conference  Continuation of Kyoto Protocol is priority: Brazil ambassador  China strides forward cutting CO₂emissions  Not funds, but eligible green projects are the key

Observers say the move could be destructive to the ongoing Cancun climate conference.

"As a developed country, Japan has the obligation to take the lead in dramatically slashing its carbon emissions," said Yang Ailun, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace China.

Japan has bluntly announced it would not sign up to a second commitment period of the protocol, because the world's top two emitters - the United States, the only industrialized country not to ratify the protocol, and China, a developing country - are exempt from compliance to reduce carbon emissions.

"It is irresponsible to use the domestic inaction in the United States as an excuse to escape its obligation, and equally wrong to use China, a developing country, as a scapegoat," said Yang.

"It's now up to the Japanese government to make a decision, because the European Union has sent out a clear signal that they're willing to move forward with the Kyoto Protocol,"said Tove Ryding, a climate policy adviser with Greenpeace International.

"Countries should stick by the rules we already have, and improve them. The way forward is not to abandon the system that took 10 years to develop and get back to zero," Ryding told China Daily.