Japan's Prime Minister walks past his spokesperson and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. Mr Edano said the Japanese government has yet to decide whether to review its goals for cutting greenhouse gases. -- PHOTO: AP
TOKYO - JAPAN may review its emission reduction pledge for 2020 after a massive quake and tsunami last month set off a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japanese media quoted a senior environment ministry official as saying.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano later said the government has yet to decide whether to review its goals for cutting greenhouse gases, as it still needs to understand the overall impact of the nuclear crisis and the prospects for post-quake reconstruction.
Japan's atomic crisis after the March 11 quake and tsunami has stretched to more than three weeks with engineers struggling to cool down the troubled nuclear plant in Fukushima, in north-east Japan, and to contain radiation leaks.
'It is true that our reduction target will be affected significantly,' Hideki Minamikawa, vice-minister for global environmental affairs, was quoted by the Yomiuri newspaper as telling reporters in Bangkok on Sunday. 'The target year and the size of the reduction will be up for review,' he added.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr Edano, also the top government spokesman, said Tokyo would need to look at the impact of the disaster on a variety of industries and policies, including those on climate change. But he added: 'At the moment, we have not decided whether to review the target and we are not at a stage where we can make a decision.'
Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto last week said Japan had no immediate plan to review its 2020 pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels, in the first official comment about whether the nuclear crisis had boosted the country's need for power from fossil fuels. -- REUTERS
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