Japan is the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter. The country announced today during the climate talks that it will reduce its emissions 3.8% by 2020, compared with the 2005 levels.

This implies a 3.1% increase of the country’s polluting emissions compared to the 1990 levels, the year taken as reference under the Kyoto Protocol, a global agreement reached in 1997 to tackle climate change.

“While the planet is hurtling towards catastrophic climate change, and thousands are dead due to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Japan announced it will not reduce its carbon emissions”, said Dipti Bhatnagar, International Coordinator of the Climate Justice & Energy programme, Friends of the Earth International.

On a press release issued by FoEI on Friday, Dipti continued: “Tokyo’s announcement comes as a slap on the face of the planet and the people. We are sorely disappointed at the continuing deterioration of the talks that this represents. Japan has today made a mockery of the Southern countries who expected to hear that rich countries like Japan cut their emissions”, she added.

Meanwhile, Yuni Onodera of Friends of the Earth Japan said the Japanese government’s decision “was made without involving the broad Japanese public and comes at the time when people in Southern countries are suffering from severe climate-related disasters”.

Onodera added “The government of Premier Abe should reconsider and reverse the course.

Under the current UN system Japan can reconsider and increase its emissions reduction target”.

Friends of the Earth International chair, Jagoda Munic, said “The world urgently needs
ambitious emissions reductions. We denounce this move and urge Japan and all industrialised countries to act on their historical responsibilities”.

FoEI’s press release says rich countries have produced 75% of historic greenhouse gas emissions despite only having 15% of the world’s population.

The UN climate talks are supposed to be making progress on implementing the agreement that world governments made in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro to stop man-made and dangerous climate change.

Far from it, the countries of the North are not making the necessary cuts in their emissions, nor are they giving funds to the Global South for adaptation and mitigation to climate change or technology transfer so that the poorest countries can have clean development.