Japan will help to fund projects in developing countries conducted under the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol starting next fiscal year, government officials said Tuesday.
Under the so-called Kyoto mechanisms, countries can achieve their Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by participating in international activities that protect and benefit the global environment.
The government will shoulder a third of the costs for projects, including wind-power plants and production of ethanol fuel from methane generated at waste-disposal plants in developing countries.
By helping pay for such projects, Japan expects to obtain nearly 1.2 million tons worth of emission credits per year.
The government is already planning to fund three projects next fiscal year and will allocate 300 million yen for the purpose, the officials said.
The Environment Ministry is likely to submit a budget to the Diet during the session that will convene Monday.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol requires industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by an average of 5.2 percent between 2008 and 2012.