The Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009 produced few tangible results and was widely regarded a failure. No consensus was reached on multilateral agreements, returning unilateral and national initiatives to the spotlight once again.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama made international headlines before the conference by announcing a national target of 25 percent for slashing greenhousegas emissions by 2020, based on 1990 levels. Only Germany announced a more ambitious target — 40 percent — for the same time frame.

Both governments face immense internal pressure from their business sectors, which are strongly lobbying to have these targets reviewed and cut. It comes as no surprise to find that the leading industrial associations in both Japan (Nippon Keidanren) and Germany (BDI) are on the same page in this regard.