Japan's greenhouse gas further from Kyoto target

TOKYO, Oct 17: Japan's greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.6 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March, reversing a modest decline in the previous year and taking it further from its Kyoto Protocol target to cut pollution, the government said on Tuesday.

Japan's Environment Ministry said preliminary data showed that the country's emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), were 1.364 billion tonnes in the fiscal year.

It said the figure was high because of increased heating fuel use at homes and offices in the winter, which was the coldest in two decades.

The emission volumes were up 8.1 percent from the benchmark year of 1990 set in the Kyoto pact and 14.1 percentage points above Japan's target to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming.

Under the United Nations Kyoto Protocol, Japan has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels by the 2008-2012 period.

REUTERS