But government is still silent on what steps it will take to meet emissions target
Kwan Weng Kin, Japan Correspondent Straits Times 14 Dec 09;
TOKYO: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama heads for Copenhagen this week for the COP15 climate change conference with a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Japan by 25 per cent from 1990 levels.
But otherwise, the Japanese leader has remained silent on what steps his government will take, and how the burden should be shared between industry and households, to ensure that his country meets that target.
A recent poll by the leading business daily Nikkei has found that many Japanese manufacturers are worried that, on their own, their greenhouse reductions will not meet the 25 per cent target.
Many companies are anxiously waiting for the government to produce a road map to show who should do what and when before they draw up their own carbon dioxide reduction timetables.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a main component of greenhouse gases.
'Since 25 per cent is a national objective, we are obliged to try to achieve it,' said Mr Kuniaki Okahara, who heads the environmental affairs division of Japan's leading electronics maker Panasonic. 'But the government has not given us any details as to what it wants to do. So we too cannot say more at this stage.'
Meanwhile, Japanese companies are actively pushing ahead to cut CO2 levels in their products.
At Japan's largest annual exhibition of eco-friendly products here last week, 'CO2 sakugen' (reduction) was the buzzword at the booths of every exhibitor, from carmakers to construction companies.
Panasonic, for instance, highlighted its energy-saving TVs and fridges. Many of the eco-friendly products at the show are innovative, if a little quaint.
Shredder maker Oriental has developed a machine, said to be a world's first, that can turn shredded paper into toilet rolls.
Launched commercially in October, the machine can recycle 40 sheets of A4-sized copy paper into one toilet roll every half an hour.
The system, says the company's brochure, is also the perfect solution for protecting industrial secrets as all confidential documents are safely flushed down the toilet bowl!
Roof tile maker Shinto touted its ecological moss-covered tiles for keeping a house cool in summer and relatively warm in winter, thus saving on air-conditioning costs.
Although the products exhibition targets both businesses and the general public, in recent years, it has also come to play a key role in helping to educate the young about the environment.
Last week, thousands of primary school kids swamped the huge exhibition site at Tokyo's waterfront Odaiba area, busily learning what manufacturers are doing to save the planet.
Since 2006, local chambers of commerce in many Japanese cities have been conducting certification examinations twice a year to raise public awareness about the environment, recycling and other ecological issues.
The test is popular with companies, many of which encourage their staff to take it, and also among housewives and school children. People who have passed the test range so far in age from 11 to 86.
Last year saw a roughly 25 per cent jump in people who sat for the test apparently because the environment topped the agenda of the Group of Eight summit which Japan hosted.
The Japanese people are generally supportive of environmental causes. A poll last month by the leading Yomiuri Shimbun daily found that 75 per cent of the Japanese supported PM Hatoyama's 25 per cent reduction target.
