Japan will request an exemption from its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol that expires next year, a report said Tuesday.
Japan will need to increase use of fossil-fuel power plants to deal with an electricity shortage, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged a major nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper said Tuesday.
A national delegation was discussing the issue at a UN climate meeting in Bangkok, and plans to ask for an exemption from penalties at the COP 17 climate conference in South Africa at the end of this year, it said.
Under Kyoto, Japan must cut its average emissions in the 2008-12 period by six percent from 1990 levels.
Penalties for falling short include tacking on the amount exceeding the target plus 30 percent to future reduction targets, the Nikkei said.
The report came after Tokyo said Monday that it may review ambitious longer-term climate goals along with many other policies as it copes with the quake and tsunami disaster, which killed 12,259 and left 15,315 missing.
Japan earlier pledged to cut its greenhouse emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels -- provided other major polluters also made sharp reductions -- one of the most ambitious targets of any industrialised country.
Resource-poor Japan was counting on increased use of nuclear energy, which accounts for about 30 per cent of its energy needs, to reduce its heavy dependence on oil imports from the Middle East.
The coastal Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was heavily damaged by the tsunami and has been releasing harmful radiation as workers battle to avert the risk of catastrophic meltdowns. :(
Japan will need to increase use of fossil-fuel power plants to deal with an electricity shortage, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged a major nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper said Tuesday.
A national delegation was discussing the issue at a UN climate meeting in Bangkok, and plans to ask for an exemption from penalties at the COP 17 climate conference in South Africa at the end of this year, it said.
Under Kyoto, Japan must cut its average emissions in the 2008-12 period by six percent from 1990 levels.
Penalties for falling short include tacking on the amount exceeding the target plus 30 percent to future reduction targets, the Nikkei said.
The report came after Tokyo said Monday that it may review ambitious longer-term climate goals along with many other policies as it copes with the quake and tsunami disaster, which killed 12,259 and left 15,315 missing.
Japan earlier pledged to cut its greenhouse emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels -- provided other major polluters also made sharp reductions -- one of the most ambitious targets of any industrialised country.
Resource-poor Japan was counting on increased use of nuclear energy, which accounts for about 30 per cent of its energy needs, to reduce its heavy dependence on oil imports from the Middle East.
The coastal Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was heavily damaged by the tsunami and has been releasing harmful radiation as workers battle to avert the risk of catastrophic meltdowns. :(
