The central government proposed to a panel of experts on Thursday that the country reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2013 levels, as the international community aims to reach a new agreement at the end of the year to address climate change.
The panel convened under the Environment Ministry and the industry ministry largely approved the plan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to finalize the goal soon and present it at a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations planned for June in Germany.
Critics say the new reduction goal is lower than the targets proposed by other major industrialized countries, urging Japan, the world's fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, to further boost efforts to tackle the problem.