Japan to aid RI over environment

Japan to aid RI over environment

JAKARTA: Japan will offer an aid package to help Indonesia and
six other Asian countries lower greenhouse gas emissions and stem
global warming over the next few years.

Environment ministry official Soichiro Seki said Tokyo's
proposal would mostly consist of training and joint research
projects in antipollution measures for Indonesia, China, India,
Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Details are to be worked out in talks with each country after
the plan is unveiled at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, later this month, Seki
said. He declined to say how much Tokyo planned to spend.

Environmental issues are expected to figure prominently in
discussions at the conference, which aims to combat poverty and
promote economic growth in developing nations.

With its proposal, Japan hopes to win credit for cutting back
greenhouse gases that would put it closer to its own emissions
reduction targets under the 1997 Kyoto protocol.

The international accord, negotiated in Japan, commits
industrialized countries to reduce heat-trapping gases blamed for
warming Earth's atmosphere. Nations that sign on agree to roll
back emissions to 1990 levels.

Fifteen European Union countries formally signed the Kyoto
protocol in May and Japan ratified the accord in June. The United
States opposes the accord, calling it too burdensome for American
industry. --AFP