Japan announces 2bn-dollar aid package to clean up Asian pollution
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Text of report in English by Janice Tang, carried by Japan’s largest news agency Kyodo
Singapore, Nov. 21 Kyodo - Japan pledged Wednesday to provide $2 billion in foreign aid over the next five years for tackling environmental problems in East Asia, such as water and air pollution, as part of an initiative unveiled by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda at a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders in Singapore.
In the initiative, Japan also proposed launching an “environment dialogue” between Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, under which Japan will support operations to protect biodiversity in ASEAN and promote eco-tourism in Asia.
Other areas of cooperation include supporting management of forest resources in East Asia by utilizing information gathered by Japanese satellites and setting up a cooperation network to protect coral reefs.
Japan plans to launch a Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, GOSAT, next year to monitor from space the density of carbon dioxide and will share the data with other nations, the initiative said.
With an eye on promoting education on environmental issues, Japan will establish a network for exchanges among graduate schools in East Asia. Over the next four years, Japan will also invite more than 500 graduate students from around Asia who are majoring in environment-related fields to visit Japan.
Fukuda unveiled the initiative at the East Asia Summit in Singapore on Wednesday afternoon, which leaders from ASEAN, Australia, China, India, South Korea and New Zealand also attended.
Japan, which will host the Group of Eight nations’ summit next summer, is eager to take leadership in building international consensus for a post-2012 framework on reducing emissions and tackling global warming after the current Kyoto Protocol expires.
Wednesday’s announcement, coming ahead of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change to be held on Bali next month, reflects Japan’s commitment to contribute to the global efforts.
Japan has proposed setting up a new mechanism to provide incentives for developing countries to work on cutting emissions, such as by improving energy efficiencies, without affecting economic growth.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Filed by Nikola Cvetkovic under The Environment