Japan will find it difficult to achieve Kyoto goals.

Japan will find it difficult to achieve Kyoto goals

Yomiuri

Though work is already under way on setting midterm greenhouse gas reduction goals under a post-Kyoto Protocol framework, Japan may find it difficult to fulfill its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels under the treaty.

In fiscal 2007, the nation's greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high of 1.37 billion tons in preliminary figures--up 8.7 percent from fiscal 1990.

Because the Kyoto Protocol obliges Japan to achieve the 6-percent target in five years starting in fiscal 2008, the figure recorded in fiscal 2007 does not count. However, some …