Japan continues to lag behind in international efforts to curb emissions of greenhouse gases to combat climate change. The government, which remains unable to decide on a new medium-term target for cuts in the nation's emissions by citing uncertainty over Japan's nuclear power generation, needs to come up with ambitious plans that match those by other industrialized economies.
By the end of March, 33 of the countries taking part in talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change submitted their plans for reducing emissions beyond 2020. For the goal of agreeing on a new framework of international efforts to fight global warming at the COP21 conference in Paris at the end of this year, participants in the negotiations have been urged to file their plans if they're ready. The 33 nations — the United States, European Union member states, Russia, Norway, Switzerland and Mexico — account for roughly 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter, is not ready yet. Discussions on the nation's targets for reducing its emissions have been slow as its nuclear power plants remain mostly idled following the 2011 meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant. The government has said it is unable to make commitments on cuts to emissions until it has a clear picture of nuclear power — which does not emit carbon dioxide in power generation — in the energy mix. Power generation accounts for roughly 40 percent of Japan's emissions.