Waiting for U.S. to produce nothing -- Akahata editorial, October 29, 2001
(excerpts)

The Seventh Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change in Marrakech in Morocco opens on October 29 to decide on
procedures toward bringing the Kyoto Protocol into force.

With the U.S. government unilaterally withdrawing from the Protocol and
the Japanese government failing to move quickly to ratification, the
implementation of the treaty from 2002 was up in the air.

But, the July COP6 in Bonn achieved consensus on the main component of
the Kyoto Protocol for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. As a result of
strenuous efforts by the EU and an overwhelming majority of nations which
call for the Protocol to be brought into effect, the Japanese government
lost all justification to oppose them.

The problem now is that the Japanese government has refused to announce
when it will move to ratify the treaty on the grounds that it has an
agreement with the United States.

Asked "whether Japan will ratify the protocol if a final agreement is
reached at the COP7 talks," Environment Minister Kawaguchi Yoriko gave no
definitive answer.

No one can be convinced by the government argument that it calls for the
protocol to take effect next year, while declining to say whether it will
ratify it or not.

Now that the U.S., the largest gas emission country, is against the
protocol, ratification by Japan as one of the major gas emission countries
is essential for the treaty to come into force.

Such an irresponsible attitude of the Japanese government comes first
from its subservience to the U.S., but also from calls of Japan's business
circles which are reluctant to see the Kyoto Protocol come into effect in
2002.

However, as an article in the science magazine "Nature" explains, the
Kyoto Protocol will help reduce the social costs necessary for eliminating
environmental pollution caused by global warming and also be more
beneficial.

Global warming has been accelerated to a dangerous speed. Unless
effective measures are taken now, it will threaten the existence of the
earth as we know it and the human species, a serious matter. (end)