May 26, 2005
The Ministry of the Environment has compiled the data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for FY 2003 in compliance with the Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming (hereinafter referred to as "the Climate Change Policy Law"). The total emission of GHGs converted into carbon dioxide was 1.339 billion tons. This is an increase by 9 million tons compared to the figure for FY 2002 (1.330 billion tons) and surpasses by 8.3% for the total emission (1.237 billion tons) of the base year (1990) under the Kyoto Protocol.
In compliance with Article 4 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as "the UNFCCC") and Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, the contracting parties are obliged to prepare an inventory of GHG emissions and submit it to the UNFCCC secretariat. In addition, the Article 7 of the Climate Change Policy Law enacted for the domestic measures required by the UNFCCC, stipulates that the government shall calculate GHG emissions every year and announce the results. The Ministry of the Environment hereby announces the calculated GHG emissions for FY 2003 and submits the data to the UNFCCC secretariat as of today.
Total GHG emissions in FY 2003 increased by approximately 9 million tons compared to FY 2002 and increased by approximately 12 million tons compared to the base year (1990) under the Kyoto Protocol, respectively. In spite of the promotion of measures coping with global warming by various stakeholders, the GHG emissions increased because of increase in socio-economic activities such as increase of population and households, expansion of economic activities, increased ownership of automobile, and specifically in 2003, long-term shutdown of nuclear power plants.
Based on these changes in socio-economic activities, the government is determined to achieve 6% reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol through implementing the Kyoto Protocol Target Achievement Plan adopted on April 28, 2005 through the cooperation between the public and private sectors. The plan includes measures for GHG emissions reduction, measures for securing CO2 sinks and utilization of Kyoto Mechanism.
<Changes in GHG emissions and its factors in FY 2003 by sector>
| 1. | CO2 emissions from energy sources (comparison with FY 2002) |
| (i) | Direct emissions from power generation by electric utilities: Increase by approximately 18.9 million tons | |
| - | Thermal power generation increased by 4.8% due to the long-term suspension of nuclear power generation. | |
| (ii) | Emissions from industrial sector: Increase by approximately 10.2 million tons | |
| - | CO2 emission intensity increased due to electricity consumption. | |
| - | Activities of mining industry boosted. | |
| (iii) | Emissions from residential sector: Increase by approximately 3.4million tons | |
| - | CO2 emission intensity increased due to electricity consumption. | |
| - | Number of households increased. | |
| (iv) | Emissions from commercial and other sectors: Decrease by approximately 1.3 million tons | |
| - | Energy consumption per floor space decreased due to cool summer and warm winter. | |
| (v) | Emissions from transportation sector: Decrease by approximately 1.9 million tons | |
| - | Emissions from passenger transport sector decreased by 80 thousand tons due to the improvement of fuel efficiency for private vehicles. | |
| - | Emissions from cargo sector decreased by 1.9 million tons due to the reduction of energy consumption intensity per traffic volume in cargo vehicles. | |
| 2. | CO2 emissions from non-energy sources (comparison with FY 2002) |
| (i) | Emissions of CO2 from industrial processing sector: Decrease by approximately 700 thousands tons | |
| - | Emissions decreased due to the less consumption of raw material (limestone) accompanied with the reduction of cement production. | |
| (ii) | Emissions of three CFC alternatives (HFC, PFC, SF6): Decrease by approximately 2.2 million tons (CO2 conversion) | |
| - | Emissions of HFC decreased due to the by-product in HCFC-22 manufacturing process. | |