Tokyo plans emissions meeting to scrabble up support ahead of Kyoto>
The government is planning to hold a two-day international meeting beginning Nov. 8 in Tokyo as part of efforts to form an international consensus on a reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said Wednesday.
The unofficial, ministerial-level meeting was arranged after it was observed that participants at an international meeting being held in Bonn are facing difficulties narrowing a wide gap among industrialized nations over the reduction target.
Time is running out: The Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP3, will begin Dec. 1 in Kyoto; the 10-day conference is meant to produce a final treaty on reducing greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2000. The government has requested a total of 20 countries -- the seven leading industrialized nations, other developed countries, major oil-producing countries and developing countries -- to attend the meeting. Participants will also discuss a reduction target for developing countries, the top government spokesman said.