JAPAN TO CALL FOR BINDING TARGETS FOR EMERGING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002794

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2013
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG PREL JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN TO CALL FOR BINDING TARGETS FOR EMERGING
ECONOMIES AT UNFCCC COP14 IN DECEMBER

REF: STATE 67484

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Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: Japan is looking for the more developed
emerging economies, e.g., China and India, to accept binding
greenhouse gas (GHG) or energy intensity targets. In the
proposal Japan sent the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term
Cooperative Action for the 14th UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP)
meeting in Poznan, Poland in December, the GOJ proposes a new
framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012 that would
separate developing countries into those that should be
subjected to binding targets, based on their stage of
economic development, response capabilities, and shares of
GHG emissions, and those that should submit only voluntary
national action plans, based on their low emissions. Japan
will call for including all OECD members in Annex I
countries, a move designed to include newer members such as
Korea, Singapore, and Chile that did not have to assume
developed country responsibilities in the Kyoto Protocol.
The GOJ also calls for Annex I countries to agree to national
targets for GHG reduction rates calculated from a pool of
base years. Officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade,
and Industry (METI) asked for U.S. support in taking a firm
stance on developing countries in next year's negotiations.
End Summary.


2. (C) The GOJ has released its proposal for the Ad Hoc
Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) and
plans to urge the points contained in it regarding a
post-Kyoto framework at the UNFCCC COP 14 meeting in Poznan,
Poland this December. A key point is that Japan prefers to
adopt a new protocol to replace Kyoto, but does not rule out
the possibility of amending the Kyoto Protocol provided it
can "cover all the necessary elements." Ministry of
Environment's (MOE) Deputy Director of the Office of
International Strategy on Climate Change told econoff any
amendments to Kyoto would have to be extensive and address
all the main points of Japan's latest proposal.


3. (U) Japan,s proposal reiterates that all parties should
adopt the long-term goal of achieving at least a 50 percent
reduction of global GHG emissions by 2050, with emissions
peaking in the next 10 to 20 years. It breaks new ground
first of all, however, by differentiating developing
countries into two groups:

-- Developing countries which are expected to take further
mitigation actions, based on their level of economic
development, response capabilities, and share of world GHG
emissions. This provision is designed to include China,
India, and other leading emerging market economies in
greenhouse gas cuts. Countries falling into this category
would be subject to binding targets for GHG intensity (GHG
emissions per unit of output) or energy intensity (energy
consumption per unit of output) on both a sectoral and
economy-wide basis. Countries in this group would also have
to establish national measurement systems for their targets.

-- Developing countries whose emissions are low and which are
vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change. These
countries would be expected to submit voluntary national
action plans to the COP for periodic review.


4. (U) Another development Japanese officials have long
foreshadowed is that, rather than including just those
countries whose advanced level of development warranted it in

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1990, Japan proposes expanding the list of Annex I countries
to include all those whose level of development now enables
them to be OECD members, e.g., Chile, Singapore, and Korea.
Japan also proposes expanding the Annex I list further to
include another other countries that wish to be included.


5. (U) The Annex I (developed) countries would continue to
be required to achieve their national emissions targets
through domestic measures, but with allowances for "flexible
mechanisms." Reduction rates would be calculated from a pool
of base years, including the latest year for which data is
available, rather than a single base year. (Japan has long
opposed being required to use 1990 as a base year, arguing
this requirement failed to take into account the energy/GHG
savings Japan had made from earlier cuts and provided an
advantage to Germany and some other developed countries.)
The new Japanese proposal suggests national targets begin in
2013 with the end year left undefined. The proposal includes
a call for Annex I countries to adopt the Japanese "sectoral
approach" to ensure comparability of mitigation efforts with
other countries.


6. (C) METI's Natural Resources & Energy Policy DG Kazuhiko
Hombu had discussed aspects of the GOJ's thinking with Senior
Climate Change Negotiator and Special Representative Harlan
Watson during a September 26 meeting attended by econoff.
Hombu said he expected Japan to take some heat for its firm
stance on emerging economies. He said he hoped for strong
U.S. involvement in the "real negotiations" to take place
next year, tacitly saying the Poznan meeting would be
primarily for laying the groundwork for future negotiations.

SCHIEFFER