Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming - Part 1

Part 1. Basic Approach

1. Global Warming is a serious problem for humans today and for the future of humanity. We must combine all our knowledge and wisdom to find a solution to this problem.
   
   The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calls for efforts to prevent global warming. The Convention was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and came into force in 1994.
   
   The Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC was held in Kyoto in December 1997 to ensure the implementation of this Convention and to promote cooperation among the world's nations to accelerate efforts to prevent global warming. The Conference resulted in the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol.
   
   The Kyoto Protocol sets greenhouse gases (GHGs) reduction targets for all developed countries, and these targets ensure that GHGs from developed countries will be reduced by at least 5% from 1990 levels during the period from 2008 to 2012. Japan made a commitment in the Protocol to reduce GHGs by 6%.
2. Japan will have difficulty fulfilling this commitment because it already enjoys one of the world's highest energy efficiency rates. However, it is essential to solve the problem of global warming in order to create the possibility for the emergence of a sustainable society through the establishment of an environmentally sound socio-economic system in harmony with the environment. Measures must be ardently promoted both in the public and private sector to prevent global warming with the understanding and the cooperation of the public.
   
   The Government of Japan will seek to strengthen efforts to achieve these reductions by attracting the participation and cooperation of every social actor, mobilizing every possible policy measure, and promoting comprehensive actions in a systematic way.
3. With this understanding, the Japanese Government developed these Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming to be promoted by the year 2010. The Government will promote the following measures in collaboration with local authorities, businesses, and citizens.

   (1)

   The Government shall strongly promote and widely apply all conceivable revolutionary technologies that are expected to be available by 2010 and focus on promoting energy conservation, introducing new energy sources, and constructing nuclear power plants with rigid nuclear safety measures to reduce emissions of CO₂ and other GHGs. These efforts will include the world's first attempt to introduce the 'Top Runners Approach' that establishes the highest standard in a given industry as the standard for the entire industry.

   (2)

   The Government shall strongly promote measures to prevent global warming by encouraging private citizens to review their lifestyles and shall support such efforts. In particular, public discussions will be held to create key opportunities for private citizens to review their lifestyles and will cover topics such as the introduction of daylight saving time and lifestyles friendly to the global environment.

   (3)

   Global warming is not a problem that can be resolved by the actions of Japan alone: it is a problem that requires the cooperation of all nations. Japan will actively fulfill its part in resolving this international problem by reinforcing the actions of developing countries, and developing international frameworks for measures such as emissions trading, joint implementation of projects, and the Clean Development Mechanism introduced in the Kyoto Protocol.

4. The Global Warming Prevention Headquarters will make an annual progress review of the measures to prevent global warming in order to ensure the steady application of these Guidelines and will review the contents as necessary. At that time, the Headquarters will solicit advice regarding the status of the progress of specific actions to prevent global warming from the Joint Conference of Relevant Advisory Councils on Domestic Measures Addressing the Global Warming Issue.