Vowing progress, Japan PM launches climate plan

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, vowing a "low-carbon revolution" against global warming, on Monday unveiled a carbon trading market to slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent by 2050.

Defying resistance from business leaders worried about Japan's fragile economic recovery, Fukuda pledged to take the lead before he hosts the Group of Eight summit of rich nations in one month.

Fukuda called for Japan to cut carbon dioxide blamed for global warming by 60 to 80 percent from current levels by 2050, and to introduce an experimental "cap-and-trade" system that mandates emission reductions.

The leader of the world's second largest economy likened the effort to the Industrial Revolution.

"I believe that we need to make an effort...