Warming Up to Anti-Global Warming Measures
[c] 2000, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
March 23, 2000
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Mar 22 (IPS) - It still lacks a clear national policy to combat global warming and meet greenhouse gas reduction targets set in a U.N.-sponsored conference three years ago. But after years of foot- dragging on fighting climate change, Japan is finally showing signs that it is ready to tackle the issue.
Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Shintaro Ishihara, for instance, has just launched a controversial ''No'' campaign to diesel-powered vehicles. While the move -- requiring diesel transport vehicles to install costly devices to reduce air pollution -- affects only the capital, many see it as a signal of what the rest of the country may expect soon.
Indeed, it comes at a time when there is a resurgence in a debate on establishing an environmental tax that will make polluters pay. This ''green tax'' is supported by the Ministry of Transport, which has been keen to promote greater use of fuel-efficient cars by lowering taxes for these while slapping higher levies on gas guzzlers.
In a report, the ministry said the ''greening of auto taxes'' is vital if Japan means to slash its carbon dioxide emissions. If the tax is imposed, the ministry argues, Japan's carbon dioxide emissions may be reduced by as much as 75,000 tonnes by 2010.
Carbon dioxide is among the world's four most abundant greenhouse gases, which also include chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) and methane. Greenhouse gases trap solar radiation, leading to a rise in the earth's temperature. This in turn alters wind and rainfall patterns around the world.
Official statistics show that in Japan, industry accounts for 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, public transportation 21 percent and private homes more than 12 percent. Carbon dioxide from automobile exhaust has been estimated to be as much as 185 million tonnes annually, or 15 percent of the total.
The green tax is being opposed by the local automobile industry, on the grounds that it would affect the sector's sales and therefore damage the country's economy.
But the government seems determined to push on with the tax. Tax Commission Chair Hiroshi Kato has said that to attain the goals set in Kyoto in 1997, the government has begun taking ''concrete steps'' toward the enactment of the environment tax by 2002.
The proposed green tax initially covers only passenger cars. Environmentalists say that for the tax to be effective, it must apply to all fuel-fed vehicles, factories, companies and even households.
Three years ago in Kyoto, at the Third U.N. Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change, Japan had agreed to a carbon dioxide reduction goal of six percent below the fiscal 1990 emission level, to be achieved between 2008 and 2012.
Japan's total greenhouse gas emissions in 1996 rose 8.9 percent compared to fiscal 1990 level. The Environment Agency estimates that carbon dioxide emissions shrank 0.4 percent to 1.27 billion tonnes in fiscal 1997, marking a year-on-year decrease for the first time in four years.
Some environmentalists have noted that the sudden eagerness of the government to impose the green tax may have more to do with the need to have something to show at another global warming conference in November, when countries will meet to discuss the Kyoto targets.
Nevertheless, activists say they welcome the green tax since it would constrict many activities that contribute to global warming.
Then again, many point out, Tokyo may have to do much more to meet the Kyoto targets on time. Comments Yuri Onodera of Friends of the Earth, Japan: ''A major concern is how soon (the tax) can be implemented.''
Tokyo University professor Tomonori Matsuo, who has just released a report that calls for the introduction of a host of energy efficient laws, meanwhile, says, ''A tax is just one step in order to reduce global warming.''
''The environment tax cannot work on its own even though it is a big feature in carbon dioxide reduction for it would force auto manufacturers to develop cars that contribute to less global warming,'' he adds. ''The big issue is the economic factor to the argument for implementing such measures that do contribute to lesser income growth in companies.''
Naoyuki Hata of the grassroots organisation Kiko Network also says that aside from imposing the tax, ''the government must also deal with reducing the enormous subsidies being supplied to the gasoline industry, which is a major cause of global warming''.
To be fair, the green tax is not the only weapon Tokyo intends to wield to fight climate change. As it is, the powerful Ministry of International Trade and Industry has decided to launch a two-year project to examine the viability of wind power. The project begins next month.
Wind power supplies 0.04 percent of Japan's power supply compared to around 10 percent in other industrialised countries. Nuclear energy supplies as much as 40 percent of Japan's current energy, but recent mishaps in local nuclear plants have only raised more opposition to this power source. As a result, officials have begun looking at alternative energy sources. (END/IPS/ap-en/sk/ccb/ral/00)
Origin: Rome/ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN/