Red, Green, and Blue

For the country where the Kyoto Protocol was laid out, Japan’s not doing so well. Instead of reducing its emissions to hit the country’s Kyoto target of dropping 6 percent from 1990 levels, Japan’s emission increased by 2.3 percent in the in the fiscal year only up to March, as compared to last year’s levels.

This comes from data released on Wednesday by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. Japan still needs to cut its emissions by 13.5 percent to reach its goal by 2012.

Japan’s been rising as one of the key players in climate change discussions, as the world’s fifth biggest emitter of CO2, but numbers like these could diminish its status. If Japan, home to the Kyoto of the Kyoto Protocol, can’t do it, then how will the international community be able to stress the importance of reducing emissions?

>> More on climate change in Japan

The reason for the rise may be because Japan closed a large nuclear plant after an earthquake last year. But it also may be because Japan regulates its emissions on a sector by sector basis. Meaning - no national caps on emissions. Industries average up their emissions, and then caps are set based on those numbers. But, they aren’t necessarily mandatory.

This could be a problem if Japan advocates this solution to the international community. For one, it’s obviously not working well already in Japan. And, instead of setting one international cap, we instead average up all the countries’ emissions based on separate industries and set caps based on those numbers. This, however,  would be difficult for developing countries who may have to abide by developed countries’ numbers. Developed countries like Japan already have new technologies for their industries - if numbers from new technologies are put on developing countries’ industries, they will fall woefully short in reducing their emissions.

So maybe Japan needs to start thinking about setting a mandatory cap on emissions. Or looking into alternative energy. Something needs to be done, because it’s not going to reduce its emissions in the next four years by increasing emissions two percent every year.

Photo Credit: Amanda Peterka

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