Keidanren to oppose Japan’s climate target

Japan’s biggest business group is set to lobby against greenhouse gas emissions targets pledged by the new ruling party ahead of an international climate conference. Business lobby Keidanren is keen to dissuade incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama from referring to a mid-term target of 25% cuts at a United Nations climate change conference in New York on September 22, the Yomiuri newspaper said. “It will be taken as a commitment and will put Japan in a disadvantageous position,” the paper quoted a senior Keidanren official as saying. The auto industry lobby said this week that it was concerned about the feasibility of the Democrats’ target, while a power industry group said the target was “extremely tough”. (September 3, 2009)