SCENESETTER FOR G-8 KOBE ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 001383 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EPA FOR ADMINISTRATOR STEVEN JOHNSON NSC FOR PAUL BROWN AND KURT TONG CEQ FOR LANDON VAN DYKE E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2018 TAGS: SENV KGHG PREL OECD JA SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR G-8 KOBE ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS' MEETING MAY 24-26 TOKYO 00001383 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer for reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The agenda for the Kobe G-8 Environment Ministerial includes biodiversity and the 3Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle, but much of the public focus will be on climate change and the steps Japan and other economies will take. This focus seems likely to remain despite the GOJ's strong support for the Major Economies Process and agreement that emerging market economies, such as China and India, need to act with the industrialized countries if we are to meet successfully the global challenge. Japan has been one of the United States' best allies in post-Kyoto Protocol climate change negotiations, but desire for a domestic political deliverable, plus suspicions China and India might not be ready to commit to MEP goals by July's G-8 Summit, could lead the Fukuda government to support EU-style targets for greenhouse gas emissions. The pro-Kyoto Ministry of Environment's (MOE) lead role in the ministerial could further affect Japan's decision- making. It will be important to note, especially with the press and in any outreach sessions with stakeholders, biodiversity and the other issues on the Environment Ministers' agenda as well as to reiterate U.S. positions on climate change and energy security, positions with which many in Japan continue to agree. END SUMMARY. Japan's Political Backdrop to Kobe -------------- ¶2. (C) Prime Minister Fukuda's approval ratings continue to drop, and climate change -- depicted here as a centerpiece issue for July's G-8 Summit as well as for the Major Economies Meeting July 9 -- is an area where the government sees some hope of a publicly demonstrable accomplishment. With rumors of elections or cabinet change later in the year, observers suggest the Fukuda government seeks to leverage progress on climate to boost its political fortunes. ¶3. (C) So while Japan has strongly supported the U.S. vision on a post-Kyoto agreement in general and the Major Economies Process in particular, over the past months there have been signs of shifts in position. In April, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry �00A;(METI),long a strong opponent of cap-and-trade or mandatory greenhouse gas targets, announced it was undertaking study of a possible mandatory domestic cap- and-trade system in Japan. (Unlike MOE, METI has long opposed Kyoto-style caps, in line with the views of the Japanese industries whose interests METI represents.) The sense, as one senior GOJ official in another ministry put it, is that when Japanese institutions undertake such a study, the likelihood is strong that the measures under study will be implemented. One of the factors now in play is developing a consensus with Japan's energy, steel, and auto companies. ¶4. (C) Moreover, in recent weeks Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura said the Prime Minister will TOKYO 00001383 002.2 OF 004 announce, before the G-8, a domestic goal for reducing Japanese greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Government officials report off the record that the Environment, METI, and Foreign Ministers are talking with Fukuda about the PM announcing a goal to cut domestic emissions by perhaps 60-80% by 2050 (using 2000 as a base year). Because PM Fukuda has moved overall responsibility for climate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to his office in the past six months, and largely left the issue to a number of new negotiators who are also pro- Kyoto, there is momentum in the government for this sort of announcement. Ministerial Arrangements -------------- ¶5. (C) Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita will chair all sessions at the Ministers' Meeting. Kamoshita has been among those personally calling for mandatory climate measures and more ambitious targets in the press and has done so since the UN Climate Summit in Bali last December. Overall he is an engaged, diplomatic interlocutor, though he has occasionally gone off- message. When Environment Minister Kamoshita criticized President Bush's April announcements on climate change as insufficient, for example, the Chief Cabinet Secretary and the PM issued statements that Kamoshita's statements were not in line with GOJ policy. Hyogo Prefectural Governor Toshizo Ido, who hosts a dinner with you and other ministers on Sunday, May 25, is also outspoken on environment, publicly supports the Kyoto Protocol, and has criticized the U.S. for not ratifying it. ¶6. (C) In addition to the G-8 Ministers, representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Slovenia (as EU president) and South Africa will participate. The UNEP, GEF, OECD, UNFCCC, World Bank, IUCN (International Union for the Conversation of Nature) and Basel Convention will be present as well. Among the stakeholders the GOJ has invited are Keidanren (the Japanese industrial federation),Keizai Doyukai (federation of Japanese business executives),JCCI (Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry),World Economic Forum, World Business Council on Sustainable Development, Rengo (Japan's federation of labor industries) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). These last two organizations raised the question of environmentally-friendly jobs at the May 11-13 Labor Ministerial in Niigata. ¶7. (C) We do not foresee surprises at this point on 3Rs or biodiversity, the other issues to be taken up in Kobe. The Environment Ministry has confirmed there will be only three written outputs from the meeting: a Chair's Summary, a 3Rs Action Plan, and a Biodiversity Call to Action. Japan will draft the text of the Chair's Summary and has indicated it will not negotiate the details of the document, but the 3Rs and biodiversity documents will be negotiated, and EPA and TOKYO 00001383 003.2 OF 004 the State Department are finalizing the wording on these with Japan and the other G-8 countries. On 3Rs, we have urged Japan to include mention of our proposal in the WTO Doha Round on reducing barriers to trade in environmental goods and technologies, which they have so far failed to do. (Former Prime Minister Mori, as Japan's representative to the UN High Level Meeting on Climate in September, also called for countries to remove tariffs on products and technologies that cut energy use or greenhouse gas emissions.) Japan has called for countries to set "targets" on 3Rs but we have resisted, referring to the milder 3Rs commitments countries made at the 2006 G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg. On biodiversity, Japan has agreed with us in supporting actions towards the UNEP 2010 Biodiversity Target, but has also called for negotiating post-2010 targets, which we oppose. ¶8. (C) Japan also promised us there will be no other last-minute initiatives before the ministerial, such as its last-minute proposal on a "Low-Carbon Society" consortium, which has been rejected. The Environment Ministry suggested, however, that if topics present themselves during discussions in Kobe, the GOJ might propose transforming them quickly into outputs. ¶9. (C) In general, the U.S. and Japan work together well in international fora on environmental issues. The GOJ approaches most environment issues from a resource management, rather than a conservation perspective, which can cause some friction on issues such as CITES. ¶10. (C) Whaling is the most notable exception to the generally good relationship on environment issues. Japan has long pursued "research whaling" in which GOJ- subsidized research vessels study, but in fact kill, minke and other whales and process them. The whale meat is provided to schools and other institutions as well as stores and restaurants. Japan has sought to minimize pressure in the International Whaling Commission through various means, including bringing in new developing country members that will go along with GOJ positions. Whaling has been an especially sensitive issue, however, between Japan and Australia and New Zealand. The USG has frequent bilateral contact with Japan on whaling, and has tried to keep the issue confined to the International Whaling Commission, but recent violent protests of Japanese research whaling in seas near Antarctica drew sharp criticism from the Japanese press and politicians. That an NGO with high-profile involvement in the issue, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has its headquarters in the U.S. is frequently reported in Japan's press and has been raised with the USG, here and in Washington, by Japanese officials, but so far has not complicated our relationship. The U.S. has supported several IWC resolutions condemning violent protests. There is always the possibility of a protest by the anti-whaling NGO the Sea Shepherd or a similar group. What Japan Wants from Kobe TOKYO 00001383 004.2 OF 004 -------------- ¶11. (C) Japan wants an outcome that sounds as ambitious as possible and gives the impression that the country is taking leadership on climate. For some time now, Japan has been frustrated over getting little credit for action, particularly in comparison with the EU, even though Japan has one of the world's most energy-efficient economies. Since the Kyoto Protocol measures emissions reductions against 1990 -- right after Japan's economy soured and investment into energy efficiency R&D dried up -- Japan now has Kyoto targets it is unable to meet. Japan is supposed to reduce its emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012, but they are currently 8% above 1990 levels and rising. ¶12. (C) Japan's chief strategy to date has been to make proposals to draw "all major emitting countries" -- i.e., both the U.S. and emerging economies such as China and India -- into a future framework, to address one of Kyoto's shortcomings. They have also stressed the utility of the sectoral approach, including with Chinese President Hu Jintao during his May visit to Japan. ¶13. (C) Our challenge in Kobe is therefore to keep focus on the broader environmental agenda and the role the G-8 can play in worldwide efforts to address climate change. Although the Foreign Ministry, as organizer for the Lake Toya G-8 Summit, understands the parameters of the G-8 process and the idea ministers should not be seen issuing instructions to or circumscribing the abilities of leaders to make decisions, the MOE may not be so circumspect. Nor may it be active in countering such misperceptions in the press, should they develop. SCHIEFFER