Japan seeks C02-reduction deal with Russia - report
Date: 16-Sep-02
Country: JAPAN
Tokyo is offering to repair thermal power stations in Russia's far eastern region to reduce carbon dioxide emissions there, so that Japan can gain emission rights to help it meet the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
The unofficial talks deal with one of the rules of the treaty that grants industrialised countries the right to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide in exchange for helping another country cut its carbon dioxide emissions, the paper said.
Japan has proposed that experts from the two countries hold talks after the Russian government approached Japanese officials this summer about the possibility of cooperating to cut carbon dioxide emissions, Yomiuri said, quoting a government source.
Officials for Japan's Environment Ministry were not immediately available for comment.
The report on talks between the two countries came after Japan agreed in July to buy credits from clean-energy projects in Kazakhstan.
Japan agreed to repair thermal power plants in Kazakhstan, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide they emit and allowing Japan to "buy" about 60,000 tonnes of the gas annually from 2008 through 2012.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialised nations must cut emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of five percent over the period 2008 to 2012, compared with 1990 levels.
The Japanese government ratified the pact in June and has pledged to cut its output by six percent.
Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation said the six percent cut was estimated to amount to around 70 million tonnes based on the country's greenhouse gas emissions of about 1.2 billion tonnes in 1990.