A Japanese nongovernmental organization called on Environment Agency officials Thursday to establish efficient domestic measures to meet reduction targets for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as stated in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, rather than exploiting potential loopholes in the agreement.

Members of A SEED Japan handed out bamboo cups punctured with holes to officials in front of the agency's Tokyo headquarters in Chiyoda Ward, saying, "Please do not make any loopholes in the countermeasures for global warming."

The gesture came ahead of the sixth Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP6), to be held this month in The Hague.

According to the members, bamboo "cup" is a pun on "COP" -- both words being pronounced "koppu" in Japanese.

The members also handed out letters to agency officials that said, "Please plug the holes of the 'koppu' with effective domestic countermeasures (for global warming)."

A member of A SEED Japan criticized the government's conduct, saying, "The Japanese government is trying to expand loopholes for the Kyoto protocol at COP6 and to delay the securing of the carbon dioxide reduction goal."

At COP6, countries are expected to decide how absorption of the gas by forests and other ecosystems will be calculated and how much Japan will be allowed to deduct from its emissions.

The Japanese government is seeking to cover up to 3.7 percent of its 6 percent greenhouse gas reductions target through forest absorption. This claim was, however, partly rejected during preparatory negotiations for the conference in October.

A document compiled in preparation for COP6 has excluded Japan's request to cut its carbon dioxide reduction target by 0.3 percent by planting trees on land where deforestation by forestry industries had occurred. The paper will serve as a basic document on which discussions will be held during COP6.

Japan is required under the protocol to reduce its carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions an average of 6 percent from its 1990 levels between 2008 and 2010. It planned to achieve up to 3.7 percent of this reduction through forest absorption.

But the exclusion of its claim means 0.3 percent of the target figure will probably be unrealized.

Japan plans to achieve the remaining 3.4 percent cut through additional activities such as forest management and tree planting in urban areas, Japanese government officials said earlier.