(Bloomberg) — New coal power projects planned for Japan
could emit carbon dioxide equal to about a 10th of the country’s
total emissions, an environmental group said in a statement
Thursday.
Japan has 43 coal power projects either under construction
or planned, representing combined capacity of 21,200 megawatts,
according to a statement from the Kyoto-based Kiko Network.
“These projects, which may still be operating in 2050, run
counter to Japan’s efforts to tackle climate change and should
be quickly reviewed or stopped,” the group said.
Emissions from the new projects would total 127 million
metric tons, equivalent to 10 percent of Japan’s total
greenhouse gas emissions in 1990, the group said. The year 1990
was established as the year from which to measure reductions in
emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, the only international
treaty limiting greenhouse gases.
The projections would account for about half of what Japan
could emit in 2050 under the current government’s target to cut
emissions by 80 percent by that date, the group said.
The report comes as Japan debates emission reduction plans
ahead of the December United Nations climate talks in Paris.
Japan may set a target to cut by about 20 percent from 2013
levels, the Nikkei newspaper reported Thursday.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Iain Wilson, Peter Langan