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