On January 30, Japan's Ministry of the Environment, released draft budgets proposed by ministries with activities to preserve the global environment for fiscal 2003, which starts on April 1. The overall budget amounted to 930.4 billion yen (about U.S.$7.8 billion) down 5.1 percent from 980.3 billion yen (about U.S.$8.2 billion) budgeted the previous year.

About 90 percent of the overall budget, or 838.4 billion yen (about U.S.$7 billion), was allocated to measures against global warming, a 5.4 percent drop from the previous year. Budgets for countering acid rain and protecting biodiversity increased significantly, by 109.8 and 173.3 percent respectively. On the other hand, funds for combating forest depletion and deterioration were slashed by as much as 81.4 percent.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry leads the budget list with 303.5 billion yen, followed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, at 279.2 billion yen (about U.S.$2.3 billion), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, at 271.8 billion yen (about U.S.$2.3 billion). Meanwhile, allocation for the Environment Ministry was much lower, at 22.3 billion yen (about U.S.$187.3 million).



Posted: 2003/04/01 08:32:36 PM
Japanese version

TAG Global warming , Government , System/Law