Isra-Mart srl : Japan insists it is not planning to ditch Kyoto carbon target

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Mixed messages about the future of Japan's greenhouse gas emissions targets have continued to circulate today, after a senior government official dismissed as "groundless" reports that the country could seek an exemption from targets imposed through the Kyoto Protocol.

The Nikkei financial newspaper had reported that Japan was seeking an agreement from other governments that would allow it to ditch the Kyoto target requiring it to reduce emissions by six per cent against 1990 levels of the 2008 to 2012 period as a result of the earthquake, tsunami and resulting nuclear crisis.

However, according to Reuters reports, Takehiro Kano, director of the Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has dismissed the suggestion as "groundless", insisting that Japan remained on track to meet its 2012 Kyoto target.

"We have neither made such a decision nor started negotiations with overseas participants," Kano told the news agency, adding that "we, Japan as a whole or both private and public sectors, maintain our efforts to achieve the goal".

However, it remains unclear whether Japan will now look to scale back its ambitious target of reducing emissions 25 per cent against 1990 levels by 2020.

Over the past few days senior ministers have given conflicting signals about the future of the target. Hideki Minamikawa, vice minister for global environmental affairs, told reporters that the government would have to reconsider the target, while chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said that the government was yet to decide on whether to review the 25 per cent goal.

The latest developments came as nuclear operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) reported that the radioactivity in seawater near the Fukushima nuclear plant peaked at 7.5 million times the legal limit last week, before declining to five million times on Monday.

Tepco has insisted that the radiation will have "no immediate impact" on the environment and will be diluted to safe levels in the Pacific.

However, Japan has reportedly requested assistance from the Russian authorities as it seeks to tackle the radiation, while the South Korean government is said to have expressed concern about the possible impact on its waters.