Abe to pledge 26% cut in greenhouse gas emissions

Sleight of hand:

The plan “reflects the Abe administration’s goals of lowering reliance on nuclear power as much as possible, with efforts in energy saving and the introduction of renewable energy to the maximum extent possible,” he said.

With fossil-hungry 2013 as base year, all Abe needs is to flick the switch on Japan's nuke plants.

Bla bla bla! It's all well and good to make these claims, but a 26% cut in emissions just by renewables seems an impossible target. I'm afraid the reality will be, this target is just political lip-service.

Ha ha, this guy promises a lot but is short on delivery! Now he's going to use the environmental pledge to justify turning on the nukes.

Japan should make (maybe HAS to make) renewable energy an all out goal. And who knows, maybe the result will be a super domestic and international export economy in the future.

How enlightening!

He could start by sealing his lips shut. That alone would eliminate a good deal of toxic gases.

Whether it is better or worse than other countries, it is still about 300% too little. But, hey, he will still be pilloried by the deniers and do-nothings. We need major changes in all our economies and for those who know who you are it does not have to be a socialist plot.

To put these targets into perspective, the general consensus is that to stand any chance of avoiding the 2C rise threshold, a global cut of at least 80% is needed by 2050. In the last 10 years CO2 emissions have RISEN by around 30%.

So Mr Abe, your planned cuts seem pretty much business as usual.

If really serious about cutting emissions and moving towards a sustainably society, a total rethink about the fundamentals of the contemporary economic system which is expected to grow indefinitely - at the expense of everything else.

Doubt 26% is achievable even using 2013 as a baseline, or that there is even an intention to achieve it. The target seems to be more of a public relations move to counter criticism of the insane building of coal plants all over the country.

“renewables can produce more than 100% of Japan’s energy needs” in the future, said Yasuyo Yamazaki, president of investment fund Kuni Umi Asset Management which finances renewable energy plants.

More than 100% seems to be a little more ambitious than necessary, but then Mr. Yamazaki does seem to have a little skin in the game.

Japan's population is shrinking and aging rapidly and firms are investing in production overseas, so pledging a 26% cut is not exceptional at all. And we should remember that this is the guy who told the world the Fukushima crisis was over.

Abe resigned previously because of a gas problem

So, if he spoke 26% less, then that would be helpful.

warispeace: "And we should remember that this is the guy who told the world the Fukushima crisis was over."

Did he? When?

more smoke and mirrors from abe to deflect from the restart of the nuclear plants.

I regularly see farmers burning entire veneer greenhouses in their fields. I complained to one once about the pollution and stink. He had zero comprehension of pollution and nasty plastic chemicals....good luck with this!

"Climate Change" a.k.a. "Global warming" is the greatest scam in the history of mankind. False science expounded by fraudulent "scientists," politicians and Environmental Marxists. The Paris Climate Jamboree will be another farce run by the Climate Change Cult. CO2 is not an evil pollutant. It is the lifeblood of the planet. We do not need to "reduce emmissions," but increase them. Mankind cannot control neither climate nor the weather. End this scam now. Enough of the climate lies and fear,kngering for marxist political ends. It is a lie, a fraud and a scam. Prime Minister Abe, please wise up to the truth. No need for Japan to abandon fossil fuels for useless Wind Turbines.

In the 70's they said hair spray was destroying the ozone layer, solar flares were causing unusual tides, sunspots were causing bad reception and the magnetic field was going to reverse. Engines still run 40 years later and anyone who still wears a watch can see it's not running backwards.

@nandakandamanda

warispeace: "And we should remember that this is the guy who told the world the Fukushima crisis was over."

Did he? When?

When he wanted Japan to hold the 2020 Olympics...

paulinusa

Japan should make (maybe HAS to make) renewable energy an all out goal. And who knows, maybe the result will be a super domestic and international export economy in the future.

And maybe the result will be be a debt-drowned economy with an extremely irregular power supply...

Turn on the nukes, build more, add renewables which can be supported by the grid, upgrade the grid incrementally, repeat (within fiscal limits).

Why not just say that Japan will cut CO2 emissions by 100% over the next ten years and pledge to move to an agrarian economy and live in caves again. Abe and every other world leader should just say whatever it takes to get the environmental Chicken Little's to leave their huge conferences and their luxury hotels, climb back into their limos and fly back home in their private business jets so they can lecture their own poor citizen's about reducing their carbon footprints. Sure, condemn the world's poor to a life of poverty, disease, and shortened lives in service to the worlds bureaucrats who believe they know what is best for everyone else.

These silly charades are so tiresome. None of the scientists climate models have proven to be correct. They have no idea what the climate will be in 100 years from now. Global temperatures have hardly changed in the last 18 years and the Artic still has it's ice cap two years after it was supposed to have disappeared according to the "settled science". If the worlds best and brightest scientists cannot figure out what the temperature will be two decades in advance why should anyone believe their predictions one century into the future?

Scientists do not know what factors control the Earth's climate. If they did, they would have a climate model which explains all the things that they currently cannot explain (ie. the warming pause). They also would not be using bullying tactics to silence opposing perspectives. People should be demanding more scientific rigor and more evidence before sacrificing the enormous decrease seen in global poverty that has occurred since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

We get it - climate change is real. It has always been real. There has never been a period in Earth's history when the climate has not been changing. Now do what Darwin would do, adapt and move on with life already. Tilting at the global warming catastrophe windmill is a dead end for humanity - literally.

Cutting O2 emissions while refusing to return nuclear power to the grid is simply a contradiction in terms. He can not have it both ways. (Well, a massive recession would help of course.... maybe he gets that)

wont get that target without the N reactors back online.

Total BS, number base on 2014 levels therefore an excuse to restart nuclear reactors.

Well 26% is better than nothing, hope government will realize if we coperate of each other we will make wonders for the human race. Our little white and blue planet is insignificant in the bast of cosmos. People or citizens who choose our governments at first place because they were not chosen by selfs. Hope realize is not any beneficial to anyone harm our selfs for print paper (money) or land ( planet earth). Hope other source of nuclear energy will be 0% waste emission or find other source of energy.

"The plan “reflects the Abe administration’s goals of lowering reliance on nuclear power as much as possible,"

EXCUSE ME?? If by "lowering reliance on nuclear power as much as possible" means raising it from zero to up to 25%, then yes, that's exactly what it means... it just means that in bizarro land. Even the operators of the NPPs are hesitant about Abe's plans to make Japan 21-25% dependent on nuclear power!!

And as for this, "To the fullest extent possible" BS, that means nothing when your willingness is ZERO! "Unambitious" is an understatement when talking about Abe and Co.'s plans. Arse-backwards is a far more apt description; especially in this nation where the "KYOTO Protocal" was signed into being and Japan, along with other nations, backed out of.

Speaking of emissions....

I have ancient kei trucks (the little pickups) and other vehicles driving around blowing foul exhaust into my car on a regular basis. I always wonder how they pass emissions when they get their bi-annual shaken. How are they going to realize a 26% emissions drop when they can't even get old smoggy trucks off the road? When I first came to Japan I believed all that hot air about how eco-friendly this country is, but the reality is totally different.

Thanks Abe i needed a laugh! Dry that one out and you can fertilize the lawn!

Rather than tell us what he is going to do using general unspecific statements why doesnt he tell us how he is going to do it. There needs to be meat coming from the mouths of politicians. Statements like "Ill create more jobs" or Ill improve the healthcare system" or "Ill cut greenhouse gases by 26%" don`t tell us anything. People need to wake up and ask these people exactly how they will achieve such goals.

Abe goes to Germany next weekend ( G7, only Asian )

Will the others forget the recent Mongolian soft coal deal?

Zichi

If a country like Japan, that has very few natural energy resources, was to find a new energy pathway that involved little or no nuclear and no fossil fuels, then this would prove highly influential internationally.

If...

unless half the j population suddenly get up and protest, and that includes the tree huggers on JT. then live with the fact that N power will be back online soon, thumb me down all you like but these are the facts

We get it - climate change is real. It has always been real. There has never been a period in Earth's history when the climate has not been changing.

Man, that propaganda talking point got old a long time ago. We get it, the climate is always changing, yawn. The issue is whether the change happening is the natural change or not. And the experts who know that "the climate is always changing" of course got no idea if the answer is yes or no.

good for abe to talk the talk. hopefully he won't walk the walk like the ignorants riding the renewables bandwagon.

Man, that propaganda talking point got old a long time ago. We get it, the climate is always changing, yawn.

So are you telling me that only man causes climate change? That would make you a naturally occurring climate change denier? I hear that even more than 97% of scientists believe that natural climate change is real - and it wasn't even necessary to hide the study data or use faulty research methods to prove it.

One little thing what might help would be to encourage taxi drivers to idle their cars less. I swear, everywhere I go in my city, every night there are lines of taxis running their engines, but not going anywhere. Maybe crack a window and chill out until your next fare arrives... I can understand, in the summer wanting to use A/C, or when you have a slowly moving line of cabs outside of a place like a train station and it being better to just keep the car on than constantly restarting, but I also see many taxis that are stationary for an hour or more, just burning through petrol...