By DPA
Tokyo : Japan may need to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by 2050 without a joint international effort to fight global warming, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
“If other countries cannot join efforts to halve global greenhouse gas emissions, advanced countries, including Japan, will be required to achieve bigger targets,” Fukuda said at a parliamentary session.
To reach the goal, Fukuda earlier suggested selecting 10 model cities across Japan, which would work to help create a “low-carbon society” by developing new traffic systems or promoting the use of biomass resources.
Japan is committed to reducing greenhouse gases by setting a quantified national midterm target beyond the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol, Fukuda was quoted as saying by Kyodo News Service.
Fukuda also advocated a global goal of improving energy efficiency by 30 percent by 2020 in a speech last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The premier unveiled the concept in his policy speech addressed to the Diet on the first day of a regular session earlier this month.
The cities to be officially designated as model cities would receive financial aid from the government.