Japan May Miss Kyoto Targets - AP

TOKYO - "Japan, a staunch advocate of the Kyoto protocol on global warming, may not meet its targets for cutting pollution unless it takes drastic action. Environmentalists criticize Tokyo for making renewable energy - such as wind and solar power - a low priority.

Tokyo has promised a 6 percent cut in emissions of greenhouse gases, thought to be a key cause of global warming. The government recently released a progress report showing emissions of greenhouse gases up 8.2 percent in 2001 from the 1990 level. Automobile exhaust and effluents from coal-fired power plants are Japan's largest sources of pollution.

But greenhouse gases from office buildings has also increased sharply, said Yoshinori Tanaka, assistant director of the Environment Ministry's climate change policy division. Tanaka said emissions will continue to rise over the next few years without tough new measures."

Government forecasts show greenhouse gas emissions will be up 4.1 percent to 4.6 percent in 2010, from 1990," Tanaka told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "But we plan to take advantage of the credits allowed under the Kyoto protocol ... to improve the forecast."

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