Local Assemblies Appeal to Japan's Government to Enact Climate Protection Act

Copyright executive committee of the Make the Rule Campaign

The Kyoto City Assembly adopted on December 16, 2008, a statement to appeal to the Japanese government to enact the proposed Climate Protection Act, which is designed to avoid dangerous climate change. In response to such statement made by a local assembly, the executive committee of the Make the Rule Campaign, which is working at local assembly levels to promote an effective scheme to curb global warming, called for action nationwide. As of March 25, 2009, two prefectures and 92 municipalities had adopted a resolution or a statement on the act, and 123,295 persons had signed the petition.

Attended by more than 50 non-governmental organizations in Japan as executive committee members, the campaign calls for setting mid- and long-term targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by December 2009, when the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 15) is held in Copenhagen, as well as creating a scheme to reach the targets.

The committee proposed the outline of the tentatively named Climate Protection Act on September 2, 2008, which sets targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 and 2050 at 30 and 80 percent, respectively, from the 1990 levels, and stipulates that 20 percent of primary energy should be supplied from renewable energy sources.

The campaign also calls for establishing new economic instruments, such as a domestic emission trading system and a carbon tax, and promoting renewable energy use through their compulsory purchase at fixed prices, and thus proposes a way to realize a low-carbon society in Japan, from the citizen perspective.

NPO Undertakes Drafting for Climate Protection Act (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/027168.html

Posted: 2009/06/30 06:00:15 AM