Wrapping up the Group of Seven environment ministers' meeting Monday, Tamayo Marukawa, as chairwoman of the talks, hailed the "strong political will" demonstrated by the group to implement the landmark Paris climate accord reached last year.
Critics, meanwhile, point out that without effective measures to achieve the goal, and amid plans to build new coal-burning power plants, Japan may find itself isolated and left behind within the group of industrialized nations.
One of the achievements of the meeting was a pledge in the communique that the G-7 members will not wait until the deadline in crafting their mid-century, long-term strategy to fight the rise in global temperatures, which the Paris climate accord sets at 2020.