New Japanese prime minister pledges 25% cut in emissions

JAPAN’S next prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has delighted environmental activists but worried business leaders by vowing to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020.

The target is far more ambitious than the 8% reduction advocated by the outgoing government.

“We welcome new prime minister Hatoyama’s courage,” said World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan office chief Takamasa Higuchi. Japan until now “lacked an ambitious attitude because it was largely influenced by an industrial sector that is backward-looking in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.