BANGKOK--Japan may have to revise its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in light of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crisis, a senior official of the Environment Ministry acknowledged Sunday.
BANGKOK--Japan may have to revise its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in light of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crisis, a senior official of the Environment Ministry acknowledged Sunday.
The Japanese government has pledged to cut the nation's CO2 emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
However, vice environment minister Hideki Minamikawa told reporters in Bangkok that the figure "will be subject to discussion," following the nuclear accident triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Minamikawa made the comment on the opening day of a meeting aimed at implementing resolutions for Conference of the Parties 17 (COP 17) to be tabled at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, this winter.
Tokyo has been pushing nuclear power as a form of renewable energy in its greenhouse gas reduction measures. Prime Minister Naoto Kan last week said the government would review its Basic Energy Plan as a result of radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant. The plan, endorsed in June last year, includes the construction of at least 14 reactors by 2030.
While representatives from the other member countries gave specific numbers for their reduction targets, Minamikawa did not mention what Japan's revised goal might be.
"We are concentrating on relief for the disaster victims and putting the plant under control," he said. "It is too early to determine the accident's impact on the government's climate change policy."