31 December 2007
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• Author: HIROKO TABUCHI
• Source: Associated Press Newswires

TOKYO (AP) - Japan’s prime minister pledged Tuesday to resume naval operations near Afghanistan after he resolves a political dispute over Tokyo’s role in the global fight against terrorist groups.

“At this very moment in the Indian Ocean, numerous countries are cooperating carrying on their fight against terrorism,” Yasuo Fukuda said in a New Year’s message. “I want Japan to be working hard for the world along with other countries as soon as possible.”

Japan’s naval mission in the region the past six years provided logistical support to forces involved in the war in Afghanistan. It mainly supplied some 132 million gallons of fuel to coalition warships, including from the U.S., Britain and Pakistan, the Defense Ministry says.

The mission was recalled Nov. 1 after Japanese opposition parties raised concerns that the operation did not have explicit support from the United Nations. The opposition also said the mission possibly violated Japan’s pacifist constitution. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Terrorism

31 December 2007
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• Source: FDCH Regulatory Intelligence Database

“America is pursuing a clear strategy to bring progress and prosperity to struggling nations all across the world. We’re working to increase access to trade and relieve the burden of debt. We’re increasing our assistance to the world’s poorest countries and using this aid to encourage reform, and strengthen education, and fight the scourge of disease.” - President George W. Bush, May 31, 2007 (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Development

30 December 2007
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• Source: Kyodo News

TOKYO, Dec. 30 — The Japanese government will aim for 30 percent of all households in the nation to have solar panels installed by 2030 as part of its efforts to fight global warming, government officials said Sunday.

Under the target, the number of solar-powered households would increase to 14 million from the current 400,000, and the capacity of such generation would expand 30-fold from the current 1.3 million kilowatts, the officials said. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Energy and Nuclear Safety

29 December 2007
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• Source: Reuters News

TOKYO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Japan will accept numerical targets to cut global warming emissions in a new climate change pact, reversing its stance which came under fire at this month’s U.N.-led talks over the deal, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Japan plans to present a proposal to divide nations into not only developed and developing countries, but also into a third group, that would include China and India, and set targets for each group. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Climate Change

28 December 2007
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• Source: AFX International Focus

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan said Friday it will host a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven leading nations in February to discuss the US subprime mortgage crisis and high energy prices.

Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said he will chair the meeting to take place on

Feb 9 in Tokyo. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Multilateral Trade

28 December 2007
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• Author: ADRIAN MICHAELS
• Source: Financial Times, Pg 13

Europe needs to increase substantially its nuclear power capacity to relieve its overdependence on gas, the chief executive of Edison has warned.

Umberto Quadrino, head of Italy’s second-largest utility, said there was serious trouble looming in European power supply.

“If you look at the supply of gas to Europe over the next 15 years, we have to be scared,” he told the Financial Times. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Energy and Nuclear Safety

28 December 2007
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• Author: Ed Crooks and William Wallis
• Source: Financial Times (FT.Com)

The rising cost of oil has wiped out the benefits many African countries were expecting from western aid and debt relief over the past three years, new research from the International Energy Agency has shown.

The situation is raising fears that, in spite of the strong growth many African countries have seen in recent years, there could be a repeat of the 1980s’ debt crisis in the developing world that was caused in part by the oil shocks of the 1970s. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Development

26 December 2007
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• Source: Jiji Press English News Service

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on Wednesday unveiled the government’s intention to propose a medium-term global greenhouse gas emission reduction target, which should be achieved by around 2020.

Komura held out the idea at a meeting of the Japan Business Federation, the country’s biggest business lobby known as Nippon Keidanren. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Climate Change

26 December 2007
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• Source: Jiji Press English News Service

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan will propose talks on steps to ensure water supplies and basic sanitation in developing countries at the upcoming Group of Eight summit to be hosted by the country, government officials said Wednesday.

At the Hokkaido Toyako summit, to be held in July, G-8 leaders are expected to discuss what measures they can take to help the world achieve a U.N. goal of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation by 2015, the officials said. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Development

26 December 2007
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• Source: Dow Jones International News

TOKYO (AFP)–Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, which becomes head of the Group of Eight industrial nations in the new year, pledged Wednesday to use the role to promote eco-friendly technology.

Fukuda said he would highlight environmental diplomacy when he heads on a four-day visit Thursday to China, promising to invite Chinese experts to visit Japan to learn about curbing pollution. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

26 December 2007
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• Source: Kyodo News

TOKYO, Dec. 26 — The following is the gist of draft discussion papers for the Group of Eight leaders’ summit to be held next July in Hokkaido.

– Global economic growth will be solid, but risks to the outlook are firmly on the downside.

– Uneven conditions in financial markets sparked by the U.S. subprime woes are likely to persist for some time. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Other

26 December 2007
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Kyodo News

TOKYO, Dec. 26 — Group of Eight leaders forecast global growth will be solid next year, but risks to the outlook ‘’are firmly on the downside'’ due mainly to ‘’uneven conditions'’ in financial markets stemming from the U.S. subprime mortgage turmoil, according to draft discussion papers for the G-8 summit next July in Japan.

The leaders have also grown concerned about the flow of speculative funds into the oil, metal and other raw materials markets, calling the phenomenon a ‘’threat'’ to the world economy, according to the draft papers, which will serve as a basis for talks by G-8 members in preparation for the summit. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Macroeconomic Policy, Multilateral Trade

24 December 2007
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• Author: Dawn Reeves & Doug Obey
• Source: Carbon Control News

BALI, Indonesia — The agreement reached here on negotiating a post-2012 climate change treaty allows the Bush administration to argue it has not committed to mandatory emission targets, while leaving the door open for the next U.S. president to accept emission mandates before a final deal must be reached by the end of 2009, according to observers attending the talks. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

24 December 2007
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• Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

Tokyo, Dec. 24 Kyodo - Japan and the United States are considering convening a leaders’ summit of major carbon emitters and a US-led meeting of major emitters ahead of the Group of Eight summit next July in Japan, according to Japanese government sources.

Holding the two meetings concurrently in Japan, the two countries plan to take the lead in building a long-term global goal of “halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050″ as a “joint conclusion” of the US-led talks and the G-8 summit, the sources said. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

24 December 2007
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• Source: Kyodo News

TOKYO, Dec. 25 — The Japanese government has decided to hold the first Group of Eight meeting of science and technology ministers in mid-June in Okinawa to discuss technological assistance to developing nations for measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, government sources said Monday.

The government has begun finalizing arrangements with the seven other nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States — for the meeting, which will be one of a number of ministerial gatherings in Japan in the run-up to the G-8 summit in July in the Lake Toya hot spring resort area of Hokkaido. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

23 December 2007
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• Source: Deutsche Welle

German Chancellor Angela Merkel can look back on a busy year on the international stage, marked largely by her able stewardship of the EU and the G8. But not all her foreign policy efforts were equally successful.

Europe took center stage in Germany’s foreign policy in the first half of 2007. As head of the rotating six-month EU presidency, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s priority was to revive talks on the derailed EU constitution treaty as a way of reforming and streamlining the 27-member bloc. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Other

22 December 2007
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• Author: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

TOKYO, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) - Japan may invite Yi Myo’ng-pak [Lee Myung-bak] to the 2008 G8 summit meeting planned for July in Toyako.

Former South Korean Prime Minister Nam Duck-woo, who is co-chairman of the South Korea-Japan cooperation committee, made the request during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Other

21 December 2007
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• Source: Agence Europe

Brussels, 20/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Pascal Lamy, WTO Director General, welcomed the real progress made on the agricultural chapter of the Doha discussions during the last quarter 2007. He called, however, on negotiators from the 151 WTO member nations, on 30 November, to draw up the broad lines for a compromise by end February 2008 on the arrangements for trade liberalisation in farm products and manufactured goods (NAMA) with a view to completing the Round at the end of 2008. This is therefore the new deadline for talks which have dragged out since they began in 2001. Early 2007, however, everything pointed to the fact that talks would be concluded by the end of this year. Such hopes were swept away when, in Potsdam, Brazil and India at the head of the G-20 emergent countries banged the door on the last G-4 meeting, composed of the four main agricultural powers including the EU and the United States. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Multilateral Trade

20 December 2007
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• Source: Kyodo News

TOKYO, Dec. 21 — Japan underscored in a government report Friday its eagerness to take the lead in helping developing nations fight global warming and facilitating international efforts to support African development as host of two key conferences next year.

The White Paper on Official Development Assistance 2007 also noted the need for Japan to press China and other emerging donor nations for greater transparency in their aid provision. It also said Japan must consider ‘’comprehensively and strategically'’ how to continue its economic cooperation with rapidly developing China. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Development, Climate Change

20 December 2007
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• Source: UNI (United News of India)

Report from UNI brought to you by HT Syndication.

New Delhi, Dec. 21 — France today said it wanted India in the UN Security Council and the G-8 grouping to challenge the old process where the US was the main player.

‘’We want to see India on the UN Security Council'’ to challenge the old process of the US dominating it, visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a press conference. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under United Nations Reform

20 December 2007
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• Source: Business Wire

TOKYO - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) (TOKYO:6501) today announced in a drive to promote environmental preservation and realize a sustainable society, the Hitachi Group has drafted a long-term plan called Environmental Vision 2025. Through this plan, the Group is determined to curb CO(2) emissions associated with its products by 100 million tons in fiscal 2025. Two factors spurred the formulation of this plan. One was recognition of the importance of developing decisive measures for meeting the target of halving greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050. This target emerged from discussions among heads of state and government at the Heiligendamm Summit of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialized nations that took place in Heiligendamm, Germany, in June 2007. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

19 December 2007
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• Author: Shigeki Kurokawa and Takamasa Miyake / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
• Source: Daily Yomiurim, pg 4

Japan’s industrial sector welcomed the agreement reached at the U.N. climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, as it did not specify numerical targets for industrialized nations.

The European Union still wants to impose clear and specific targets for developed countries, but Japanese companies are wary of this idea gaining ground in the run-up to the summit meeting of the Group of Eight major countries set for July at the Lake Toya hot-spring resort in Hokkaido. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change

19 December 2007
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• Source: Agence France Presse

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the powerful German auto industry slammed a European Commission proposal Wednesday to slap heavy fines on car-makers that fail to meet emissions targets.

They argued that the measures would unfairly burden German auto manufacturers, a major component of Europe’s biggest economy employing more than 740,000 people.

“This is industrial policy at Germany’s expense,” Merkel fumed after a meeting with leaders of major international lending institutions. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment

19 December 2007
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• Author: BARRIE McKENNA
• Source: The Globe and Mail

WASHINGTON — With the high loonie putting stress on the economy, the time is ripe for Ottawa to eliminate lingering curbs on foreign ownership that are sapping productivity, two major international economic agencies say.

Economists at the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have reached remarkably similar conclusions in separate reports released this week – namely, that excessive regulation is holding Canada back.

This year’s rapid ascent of the Canadian dollar is putting new pressure on Canadian businesses to become more competitive, said Anoop Singh, the IMF’s western hemisphere director. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Macroeconomic Policy

19 December 2007
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Platts Commodity News

Japan is considering slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, rivaling an aggressive EU target on fighting global warming, the environment minister said Wednesday.

Japan came under fire from environmentalists last week for siding with the United States at the UN’s climate change conference in Bali, that ended without a clear reference to future targets aimed at cutting the emissions blamed for climate change.

But Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita said Japan, which next year will be head of the Group of Eight industrial nations, needed to set an aggressive mid-term goal to take global leadership. (more…)

Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under The Environment, Climate Change