Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Announcement of Climate Change Policy by the Government of the United States

February 15, 2002

The Government of Japan appreciates the announcement of climate change policy by the Government of the United States on February 14 as a demonstration of its serious intention to address the issue of global warming. The Government of Japan shares the importance of the approach included in the United States policy, namely, to encourage technological development and to give consideration to compatibility with the economy in promoting actions against global warming. The Government of Japan strongly hopes that the Government of the United States will further strengthen actions to tackle global warming based on the announced policy.
While the Government of Japan intends to take all necessary steps to ensure the approval by the Diet of the Kyoto Protocol as well as the enactment of required legislation during the current Diet session, in order to ensure the effectiveness of actions against global warming, it is important to establish a common rule in future in which all countries including the United States and developing countries participate, and the Government of Japan hopes that the Government of the United States will actively engage in climate change negotiations. The Government of Japan will actively continue Japan-US high-level consultations on climate change with the aim of working together toward the common objective of global environment.

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