Japan Establishes Cabinet Advisory Panel on Climate Change

2008.04.21 Mon

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Nobutaka Machimura, announced on February 21, 2008, that the prime minister's office has set up an advisory panel, called the Panel on a Low-Carbon Society, to address the issue of global warming. It's purpose is to discuss wide-ranging topics regarding how Japan can contribute globally to creating a low-carbon society, while at the same time considering this global issue as an opportunity to advance the prosperity of all humanity.

The panel is composed of 12 experts from various fields, including Mr. Hiroshi Okuda, a senior adviser to the Toyota Motor Corp., who also serves as a special cabinet adviser on mainly global warming issues; two representatives from the industrial sector, Tsunehisa Katsumata, president of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Akio Mimura, president of the Nippon Steel Corporation; Ms. Junko Edahiro, a joint chief executive of the non-profit group, Japan for Sustainability; and Ms. Harumi Takahashi, governor of Hokkaido, where the Group of Eight (G8) summit will be held in July 2008. The advisory panel meetings are attended by the prime minister, the chief cabinet secretary, the environment minister, and the economy, trade and industry minister.

Following the panel's first meeting on March 5, 2008, it will continue discussions, taking into account important milestones such as the G8 Toyako Summit in July 2008 and COP15 (fifteenth Conference of Parties) in 2009, where it is hoped that a post-Kyoto framework will be agreed. In addition, the panel is expected to investigate emissions trading, the pros and cons of which have been highly controversial in Japan. It has also been directed to conduct comprehensive reviews of the best low-carbon lifestyles, urban structures, and transportation systems, as well as production activities, with the view of turning Japan into a nation built as a low-carbon society.

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html
- Toyota Exec Appointed as Advisor for Japanese PM on Global Warming Issues (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2027-e

Posted: 2008/04/21 12:19:24 AM

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