The government should focus more on promoting innovations and utilizing energy-efficient technologies of Japanese companies in the nation's efforts to combat global warming, officials of industry groups said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
The introduction of a European-style carbon emissions trading system — being discussed as one of the policy options for cutting greenhouse gas emissions — could only result in Japan buying emissions rights from overseas in large volumes and thereby losing the financial resources needed for green technology breakthroughs, they said.
Representatives from various industry groups spoke at the symposium organized March 23 by the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and the Keizai Koho Center to discuss the industrial sector's efforts to achieve a low-carbon economy.