Climate held to ransom?

2 December 2010

Nor were they fired by the gang of suspected kidnappers arrested by the Mexican navy last week.

Some news reports suggested the gang had fake police uniforms, maps of checkpoints and photos of the conference venue. Yikes.

Instead, the shot across the bows has come from Japanese negotiators.

Yesterday it emerged the Japanese Government would 'never' sign up to another set of emissions-reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

The targets expire in 2012 so it's becoming increasingly urgent for rich countries to agree new ones.

For Japan to distance itself so publicly from the Kyoto Protocol is a huge blow. Japan was, after all, host nation for the talks in 1997 which gave the agreement its name.

Orders from the top

At a press conference in the evening, the Japanese delegation was unrepentant.

They revealed the order for the change in policy has come from the Japanese Prime Minister himself.

Yet Japan, by signing the Protocol in the first place, has a legal duty under international law to agree new targets.

There'll be huge pressure for them to do so in the coming week - not just from groups like Friends of the Earth but from scores of developing countries, too.

Historical responsibility

And with good reason - after all, Japan has historically been a major polluter, and so a big contributor to the problem of climate change.

In their closing remarks the diplomats said they were a friend of developing countries because Japan provides money to enable them to cope with the effects of climate change. 

Echoes of the bungling 'kidnappers'. We're hoping the Japanese won't end up holding the world hostage.

You can help send a strong message to Japan's Prime Minister to stop wrecking the climate talks.

Henry Rummins is a communications and media officer at Friends of the Earth. He's reporting from the climate talks in Cancun as part of the Friends of the Earth International delegation.