Washington DC, August 7, 2003
Two years ago, the President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi agreed to initiate
High-Level Consultations to explore common ground and areas for common action,
based on the shared recognition that climate change is a pressing global problem
requiring a global approach. Since then, the United States and Japan have taken
significant actions to address climate change.
Last year, Japan and the United States acknowledged the promise of science and
technology, the need to spur technological innovation, the importance of
encouraging voluntary initiatives in the private sector, and the importance of
market-based incentives. They also shared a common belief in the need for the
widest possible global participation in addressing climate change, consistent
with the need to ensure continued economic growth. Both sides noted with
satisfaction today the considerable actions that have occurred over the past
year in all of these areas.
The United States outlined recent developments in climate change activities,
including progress in implementing voluntary programs, such as industry and
sectoral initiatives, to meet the U.S. greenhouse gas intensity goal, the
establishment of the Climate Change Research Strategic Plan, and enhanced
funding for key technologies. The United States also outlined its plans for an
International Partnership on the Hydrogen Economy, and invited Japan to
participate in this effort.. Japan explained its position regarding the Kyoto
Protocol, including its efforts to achieve the commitment under the Kyoto
Protocol through measures stipulated in its New Climate Policy Program, such as
reducing taxes on environmentally friendly vehicles, reforming its existing
energy tax scheme, facilitating the Nippon Keidanren Voluntary Action Plan,
strengthening research and development of environment-related technologies, and
promoting public involvement. Both countries reaffirmed their intention to
effectively implement their respective approaches to address climate change, in
order to achieve the ultimate objective of the Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
Japan and the United States noted in particular their enhanced commitment to
research and development of cleaner and more efficient technologies, which will
play a key role in achieving the ultimate objective of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, including through their participation in the
Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. They also affirmed their resolve to
provide leadership in improving the world’s capability to understand, monitor
and predict climate variations and impacts, including through the Earth
Observation Summit, held in Washington July 31, and through the Ministerial
Conference that Japan will host in Spring 2004 to agree on the framework for a
ten year plan on earth observations. They noted that their efforts in these
areas are contributing greatly to the implementation of the G-8 Summit Action
Plan on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development and the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Japan and
the United States welcomed the significant progress that has been made by the
working level consultations in three areas, namely Science and Technology,
Market Mechanisms, and Developing Country Issues as follows:
(1) Last year, Japan and the United States decided to elaborate and implement
joint climate change science and technology research activities in seven
priority research areas. Since then, the two sides have worked intensively to
deepen their cooperation in these areas and agreed on the list of eleven
projects for implementation in five priority areas, which are contained in the
Annex below. The two sides noted as well that they should explore a number of
other proposals.
(2) Over the past year, Japan and the United States continued a fruitful
dialogue at both the policy and technical levels on their respective climate
change activities, with a particular focus on market-based approaches. They
consider that this dialogue has contributed to strengthening their efforts to
address climate change, and looked forward to continuing it in the future with a
view to further enhancing effectiveness of their policies and measures. As a way
of broadening this discussion, they also announced that they would co-host a
workshop in early 2004 with Asian developing countries to advance understanding
of key issues relating to technology and innovative approaches to address
climate change.
(3) Japan and the United States reaffirmed the importance they attach to the
participation of all countries, including developing countries, in cooperative
efforts to address climate change. They welcomed their respective activities in
the last year to engage developing countries through bilateral and multilateral
avenues. They noted that the "Informal Meeting on Further Actions Against
Climate Change" hosted by Japan in July provided a valuable opportunity for
representatives from developing and developed countries to exchange views on
future actions, and they resolved to continue their cooperation in follow-up
activities. They also noted their interest in continuing to exchange information
relating to developing country assistance. They also welcomed their cooperation
in the area of capacity-building for climate change modeling through workshops
to be organized by the United States, and they proposed to explore further areas
of cooperation, including through Type 2 projects of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development.
Both countries will continue to promote bilateral cooperation on climate change.
Improvement Of Climate Models Making Use Of "Earthsimulator" And Research On Earth Processes For Modeling
Research And Development Of Renewable And Alternative Energy Technologies, Resources And Products, As Well As Energy Efficiency Measures And Technologies