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Although the European nations in the G-8 were in favor of the proposal and have long been pushing for stricter medium-term targets, the U.S. - along with Canada, Australia and host nation Japan - torpedoed the plan in favor of the more vague long-term goal. (Canada and Japan are original signatories to the Kyoto Protocol - unlike the U.S. and Australia - but both have drifted away from the European nations on climate change in recent years.) That's a disappointment, not just because of the missed opportunity to engage developing nations. Without the signpost of a medium-term target...
...running out of time to be vague on climate change. On Wednesday the world's 16 top carbon emitters will meet in Japan to further hash out climate-change action, under President Bush's major emitters process, but don't expect any more progress. If nothing else, this G-8 summit - Bush's last in office - made it clear that we can't expect any change from the U.S. until a new President is in office. Both John McCain and Barack Obama back stronger action, but a successor to the Kyoto Protocol needs to be negotiated...
Environmental protection isn't just a good-neighbor policy; it's an industry, and a new way for Japan to turn a profit from China's economic boom. Selling eco-friendly technology is potentially big business, and one in which Japanese firms still have a tremendous competitive advantage. Toshiba's Westinghouse unit, for example, (yes, once part of a famous U.S. company) is building four advanced nuclear reactors in China at about $3 billion to $4 billion each. Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steelmaker, introduced a type of eco-friendly coke-making technology called dry-quenching in China that...
Another hurdle is popular distrust in aiding China at all. The Japanese public questions why Japan should expend its resources assisting a nation that is rapidly becoming its chief competitor. The short answer is that if Japan doesn't, someone else will--and will reap the rewards. Yet Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs discontinued new loan projects to China this year, although existing loans will be honored, and other types of aid, like technical assistance, will continue...
...potential benefits of cooperation on the environment, however, are compelling. "The environment is a mutual problem," says Environment Minister Kamoshita. "So, concretely, we benefit by working together." If so, a repaired relationship between Japan and China could make the war against global warming a lot easier to fight...