Lower house passes emissions bill, aiming to slash by 25% by 2020

TOKYO, May 18 Kyodo -
The House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would aim to slash
Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and
introduce an emissions-trading system.
The bill on the nation's medium- to long-term basic policies to curb global
warming would also set an 80 percent emissions cut target for 2050, and was
approved easily with the support of the Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling
coalition at a plenary session held Tuesday night after hours of delay due to
political wrangling over other issues.
But the 2020 target assumes that all major emitters set similarly ambitious
targets, and the bill does not show what proportion of the envisioned
25-percent cut would be achieved through domestic measures.
The bill also features the establishment of a caps-and-trade system that would
put an overall ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions by companies and other
organizations to ensure a reduction.
However, the measure has left room for setting an emissions ceiling per unit of
production for some industries, saying in its text that introducing such a
system would be ''considered.''
That approach, which may lead to an increase in emissions as output grows,
apparently reflects business concerns but is being criticized by environmental
groups.
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party had come forward with a
counterproposal targeting an 8-percent emissions reduction through domestic
measures by 2020.
During debate at the lower house Environment Committee, the party and another
opposition party, New Komeito, demanded that the government make clear what
proportion of the envisaged emissions cut would be achieved through domestic
measures.
Although LDP panel members tried to continue the debate, the ruling coalition
voted to approve the legislation last Friday, sending the bill to the chamber's
plenary session.
==Kyodo