Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced Monday that Japan will aim to cut greenhouse-gas emissions between 60 and 80 percent by 2050, but did not give in to strong pressure to set an emissions-reduction target for 2020. Fukuda gave a nod in the direction of a shorter-term goal, saying Japan’s emissions will likely drop 14 percent by 2020, but said a specific interim goal will not be announced until next year. Japan, the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter, will trial a national carbon-trading scheme starting as soon as this fall.
