Govt hopeful COP6 will allow forest absorption
Copyright 2000, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo)
November 17, 2000, Friday
THE HAGUE - Government officials attending the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have said they expect Japan will be allowed to achieve up to 3.7 percentage points of its agreed reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 6 percent through natural forest absorption of such gases.
The government officials said the European Union had described as "interesting" a proposal submitted to the conference by the United States and Canada to include the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by forests in calculations of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
They said the comment was encouraging. The officials expect that if the proposal is approved, Japan will be able to achieve a self-imposed target of 3.7 percent for such greenhouse gas emission cuts through forest absorption.
If Japan fails to win approval for the 3.7 percent reduction through forest absorption at the conference, it will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking other steps.
Mori sends message
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said in a message sent to the COP6 conference Wednesday that the meeting was an important landmark in the formulation of major rules to govern the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, adding that the ability to undertake the implementation of the protocol rests on the outcome of conference in The Hague.