Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao: Japan Will Accelerate Efforts Toward Ambitious Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets; Assistance to Developing Countries is Vital Issue

By Masahiro Amazawa and Yoichiro Tanaka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

14:11 JST, November 19, 2024

BAKU — Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao, at a ministerial meeting of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku on Monday, said Japan will accelerate the concrete analysis it is conducting in order to submit ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets to the United Nations.

Countries are required to submit their emission mitigation targets for 2035 to the United Nations by February.

Asao, who took the stage on the first day of the ministerial meeting, also said that it would be possible to verify the accuracy of emissions reports by each country with analysis technology utilizing Japanese greenhouse gas observation satellites.

He expressed Japan’s intention to help make these reports more transparent by, for example, working to verify reports from developing countries.

Discussions at COP29 have run into trouble over financial assistance from developed nations to developing countries.

“We must solve the issue of financial assistance in order for all countries to be able to move forward with anti-global warming measures. I would like to work hard to reach a practicable agreement,” Asao told reporters.