Japan must take a multiple social approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions next decade and pursue a reduction of 60 percent to 80 percent by 2050, the draft of a bill for establishing a low-carbon society states.
The outline, made available Monday, designates the next 10 years from fiscal 2009 as a "period for special action" to fight climate change. It advocates taking measures over a wide range of areas, including the legal, financial and taxation systems.
A Liberal Democratic Party panel is working on the bill and plans to present it to the Diet soon, the sources said.
The bill says Japan will have to reduce emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent from current levels by 2050. It also sets a specific goal for pursuing alternative energy sources, including solar and wind power, and calls for introducing a system under which power utilities can buy electricity generated by these sources.
The outline also refers to the need to develop technologies that can reduce the nation's dependence on coal-fired thermal power plants while devising a system in which taxes can be levied according to emission volumes.