In December of this year there will be a globally critical meeting in Copenhagen to agree on a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.
And right now I am in Tokyo which on most lists is the largest city in the world and where the Environment minister, Tetsuo Saito, is arguing for a 15% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2020. The Environment Minister has stated that Japan should aim for a 25 % reduction in total — 15 percentage points by domestic efforts and the remaining 10 points by forest absorption and the purchase of emission credits from other countries. Japan is already doing a lot to reduce emissions. Yesterday I visited a power company in southern Japan where employees are encouraged not to wear ties and jackets, enabling a higher room temperature and reducing power usage for air conditioning.
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