By Zhang Hua

Japanese incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged Monday to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emission by 25 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2020, a target much higher than that of the outgoing Japanese government and the rest of the world.

Although hailed by environmentalists, the ambitious goal drew concerns from the Japanese business circle which worried that further limit on emission could increase costs and harm industries' competitiveness.

"Japan's change in government will bring a major shift to our climate change policies, through international negotiations for the future of human society, and I want to begin in a way that is said to have made a major contribution," Yukio Hatoyama said Monday at a symposium on climate change in Tokyo.

Hatoyama led the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan to defeat outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in recent parliamentary elections, and is set to be elected prime minister on Sept. 16.

"It is one of our pledges stipulated in our (election) manifesto, so we have to have a political will to aim at its realization by utilizing all policy tools," he said.

In sharp contrast with Hatoyama's resolution, the plan of the Aso Cabinet was only to cut emission by about 8 percent. In other parts of the world, the EU has agreed to cut emission by 20 percent, and the United States' planned figure is only 17 percent on the 2005 levels.

Japan has been one of the most ardent advocates for greenhouse gas emission. It hosted a conference in 1997 which produced the Kyoto Protocol and it boasts many high-end technologies for environment protection.

Hatoyama's announcement once again catered to environmentalists' expectation prior to an international conference on climate change to be held in Copenhagen in December.

However, analysts said the incoming prime minister's target was hard to achieve due to its domestic and international implications.

For the international framework in fighting climate change, Hatoyama urged all major countries, including developing nations, to set "ambitious goals" in cutting greenhouse gas emission, blurring, if not violating, the "principle of common but differentiated responsibilities" brought forward by China and supported by the whole developing world.

Hatoyama's proposal, if followed, could produce a deadlock between industrialized nations and emerging economies over who should bear the most responsibility for emission cuts, experts said.

Back at home, both Japanese politicians and business leaders doubted that the reduction target may corner Japan to a disadvantageous position and have negative impact on the country's economy which is yet to be fully recovered from the severe financial crisis.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the proposal could cause social and economic problems, while Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said that Hatoyama should respect the business field to avoid unnecessary confusion, according to local media reports.

Japan's biggest business lobby Keidanren said the target was unacceptable and it opposed any cut higher than 6 percent. At a recent meeting, the group said it would be "a big problem" if the upcoming government introduced it on the international arena.

The target was described as "extremely tough" for the Japanese auto industry by Takanobu Ito, Honda Motor Co.'s president.

"It far exceeds the common sense of our business plan," he was quoted by Kyodo News as saying on Tuesday.

Some analysts predicted that without follow-up from other developed nations nor support at home, Hatoyama and his new government may gradually back down from the promise later on. Nevertheless, in the days running up to the Copenhagen summit, Japan has been put at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)