Japan met its Kyoto Protocol obligations to lower greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees and buying carbon credits as actual emissions rose, media reported on Sunday, days after the country watered down targets for cutting them further by 2020.
Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara will release the preliminary figures on November 20 in Warsaw, where some 190 nations are meeting from November 11-22 to work on a global climate pact, the Nikkei and Asahi newspapers said.
Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, was obliged under Kyoto to cut emissions by 6 percent from 1990/91 levels to 1.186 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent a year on average over the five years to March 2013.
The Nikkei business daily said actual emissions rose by 1.4 percent to 1.279 billion tonnes, but Japan met its target with offsets for planting trees and through the government and companies purchasing carbon credits from abroad.
Source: NewsOnJapan
