The 20th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP20) held in Lima in December set an informal deadline of March 31 for countries to submit their plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions in and after 2020 — to be finalized at COP21 in Paris at the end of this year. Not much time is left and Japan needs to make utmost efforts to submit its plan in time.
Although 196 countries and regions that took part in COP20 made some progress in laying the basis for the global framework for future emissions reduction efforts, the agreement that emerged from the meeting does not impose strict conditions on what individual countries' plans should be like.
Japan, whose performance in emissions cuts could be described as less than satisfactory in recent years, should not take advantage of this to present an unambitious plan.