Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 17 December 2009

Prime Minister Hatoyama attends COP15 Summit Meeting
Japan announces 1.75 trillion yen in environmental assistance at COP15
Foreign Minister of Mongolia Gombojav Zandanshatar visits Japan
Questions concerning the COP15 conference
Questions concerning the relocation of the US forces in Okinawa
Questions concerning press reports about North Korea

Prime Minister Hatoyama attends COP15 Summit Meeting

Deputy Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura: Good afternoon, let me start with the climate change issue. Prime Minister Hatoyama has left today for Copenhagen to attend the summit-level meeting of COP15. The Prime Minister will attend the banquet tonight to be hosted by Their Majesties Queen Margarethe II and Prince Henrik. Tomorrow, on the 18th, the Prime Minister will be present at the summit meeting.

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Japan announces 1.75 trillion yen in environmental assistance at COP15

Mr. Kawamura: In relation to the COP15, yesterday, at the Ministerial High-level Segment Meeting of the COP15 in Copenhagen, the Government of Japan announced that it would provide financial assistance to developing countries of approximately 1.75 trillion yen, which is about 15 billion dollars, including public and private finance. This is the realization of the Hatoyama Initiative, which was announced by the Prime Minister at the United Nations last September and was initiated to help developing countries cope with their climate change challenges.

This assistance will include 1.3 billion yen, which is about 11 billion dollars, on the condition that a successful political accord is achieved at COP15. That is a fair and effective framework with the participation of all major emitting countries and agreement on ambitious targets.

Upon establishment of a new framework, Japan will, with this assistance, support a broad range of developing countries that are taking measures of mitigation, as well as those that are vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.

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Foreign Minister of Mongolia Gombojav Zandanshatar visits Japan

Mr. Kawamura: Next is Foreign Minister Okada's schedule. Foreign Minister Okada will receive the Mongolian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Gombojav Zandanshatar this afternoon. This is Foreign Minister Zandanshatar's first overseas visit since the inauguration of the new Mongolian Cabinet last month.

That is all from me; I would now like to invite your questions.

Questions concerning the COP15 conference

Q: First of all, may I confirm Prime Minister Hatoyama's schedule in Copenhagen once again? You mentioned that he just left...

Mr. Kawamura: Yes.

Q: And he is going to attend a dinner...

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, tonight.

Q: And then he will attend the summit meeting?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, he will attend the Summit tomorrow, on the 18th.

Q: Are there any bilateral meetings that are expected?

Mr. Kawamura: At this right moment, I have not confirmed the details. We will see. In theory there may be chances to have bilaterals in between the summit meetings, but at this right moment I have not gotten any confirmed schedule for the bilaterals.

Q: Which bilaterals are the Japanese government requesting?

Mr. Kawamura: We are in the process of coordinating and we have not reached a final picture yet, but the first priority is placed on the summit meeting of the COP15. We have to think of the summit meeting schedule first and then, if this is feasible, we will consider bilaterals, but we have not confirmed it yet.

Q: You mentioned that Japan's contribution of 11 billion dollars is on the condition of a political accord being reached.

Mr. Kawamura: Yes.

Q: What kind of a political accord do you mean?

Mr. Kawamura: The negotiations are still going on, so it is a little bit hard for us or for each of the negotiating partners to have a clear image of the final outcome of the negotiations. However, there are some principles that are of importance to Japan that can be put in the final political accord.

The first element is that the major economies should participate in the arrangement. The second is that effective framework mechanisms are to be installed. Finally, fairness should be realized in terms of burdens or the measures for each partner to take so as to realize the goal of climate change control. Roughly speaking, those elements need to be incorporated into the final agreement. However, the negotiation itself is going on so we need to see in a pragmatic way how to receive the final outcome.

Q: How is the Japanese government reacting towards how negotiations are going so far at COP15?

Mr. Kawamura: I think everybody recognizes that negotiations are entering into a very challenging and difficult moment. As you are well aware, the negotiations are going on in two working groups. One is to discuss the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with the terms of the Protocol itself. The other is the working party to discuss the action programs under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under those working groups, member countries are participating and discussing the key issues. However, the two-track approach has now seen that major differences in key areas, in particular between developing partners and the developed economies. We will see how to cope with this situation. In this context, yesterday, Japan proposed the Hatoyama Initiative financial support package so that the negotiations could get an impetus to progress.

Q: Regarding this package of 15 billion US dollars, you said it includes public and private finance. Does that include Japan's ODA?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, let me give you a rough sketch of the 15 billion dollar package. ODA counts about 6 billion dollars out of the 15 billion dollars. For the World Bank's Climate Investment Fund, Japan is to contribute 1.2 billion dollars, and Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) financing and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) support for counter-risk measures are also included in the package. From the private side, I think with this official and governmental funding, we expect private assistance will be induced for climate-related projects in the coming months. So, in total, we expect 15 billion dollars.

Q: Does that include Japanese companies and Japanese businesses?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, the Japanese private sector's participation is expected.

Q: Any names that you can give?

Mr. Kawamura: I probably should not do that, but at the end of the day, I will see those projects of collaborations between public and private funding.

Q: Aside from the 15 billion-dollar package, is Prime Minister Hatoyama going to make any new announcements during the summit?

Mr. Kawamura: The initial announcement was made in Copenhagen this morning in Japan time, or yesterday in European time, by Environment Minister Ozawa. I expect that the Prime Minister may refer to this Hatoyama Initiative in terms of financial contributions in Copenhagen. The initiative was announced by the Minister for the Environment with the Prime Minister’s approval.

Q: Can I ask you a little bit about the reduction target and how that fits in with what is happening in Denmark right now, and whether what is happening in Denmark might have any impact? People are saying - at least from what I have seen in the media - that Japan seems to be a bit...not isolated, but stands out kind of separately from everyone else. How does it all fit together?

Mr. Kawamura: Isolation is not a correct term with which to depict where Japan stands now. The correct description of what is happening in Copenhagen is that every single country is negotiating hard to reach a reasonable and effective agreement to fulfill the target. It is still too early to determine Japan's final position. You mentioned the reduction target of 25%, but you may recall that the Japanese proposal has a premise, that is, a good accord, which means that major economies join it, and reasonable and fair burden sharing be realized. We are expecting those elements to be realized, and if we reach an effective and good accord, then Japan's position and a proposal for reduction targets will be realized. Still, it is too early to determine Japan's final position regarding the negotiations. The negotiations are still going on.

Q: I am sorry, I am not that familiar with it, but what are the conditions? How would you define an effective accord?

Mr. Kawamura: It may sound subjective, but I will give you again a copy of Prime Minister Hatoyama's statement from September at the United Nations. He clearly said that Japan's proposal of a 25% reduction of CO2 is on the premise of such an accord and participation by major, responsible partners, equal and fair burden sharing, and so on. That is Japan's view, but we need to see carefully how the international negotiating partners would react to this call and we will make a final judgment after seeing all the negotiation measures declared. Right now, it is hard for us to say whether this will be reached or not.

Q: I am not sure if anyone has already asked this question, but are you expecting any bilateral meetings in Copenhagen?

Mr. Kawamura: It was asked, but I would be happy to repeat it. We have not had any fixed list of bilaterals yet. The Prime Minister just left for Copenhagen and his major purpose is to attend the summit-level meeting of the COP15. We will see whether we are going to have a timeframe for bilaterals, but it will come up later if his schedule is fixed.

Q: Is Mr. Hatoyama still willing to meet Mr. Obama in Copenhagen if possible?

Mr. Kawamura: I do not have the materials to respond to your question now. We will see.

Q: If negotiations do not go smoothly and, for example, if it is prolonged for a day or two, will Mr. Hatoyama stay, or is he going to return as scheduled? Is that schedule fixed?

Mr. Kawamura: First of all, we would like to see how the summit meeting of COP15 in Copenhagen will proceed. The summit meeting is planned for tomorrow, the 18th. His current plan is to come back to Japan on the 19th.

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Questions concerning the relocation of the US forces in Okinawa

Q: Am I allowed to ask other things besides Copenhagen?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, of course.

Q: About the Futenma issue, Prime Minister Hatoyama has said that he would like to look for an alternative site other than what was agreed between Japan and the United States in 2006. The United States seems to be quite disappointed about this government policy to postpone the conclusion about where Japan wants to relocate the facilities. What is your view, currently, about the current situation between Japan and the United States? Mr. Okada has said that he is very concerned about the situation. As a spokesman, how do you view the situation now?

Mr. Kawamura: I need to double check about the United States' reaction. You mentioned disappointment...

Q: I think they said it is unfortunate or something...

Mr. Kawamura: I read the press report about this statement yesterday or the day before yesterday, but I think that Foreign Minister Okada said in his press conference that he has not received a reaction from the US by indicating that they are disappointed or that they disapprove. What we did with the United States was that there was an agreement among the Japanese leaders that three coalition parties would continue to discuss this issue. Foreign Minister Okada informed the United States side about the establishment of the working group among the three coalition parties, and the current state of the discussions among them. That is what we told the United States. To the best of my knowledge, Foreign Minister Okada has not received any negative reaction from the US side since then.

Getting back to the core of your question, how we view this situation, repeatedly we reiterate that we recognize the importance of the Japan-US Alliance. As the top leaders confirmed, our alliance is the cornerstone of foreign policy making. Based on that, we are making our best efforts so that the current US-Japan Alliance lasts for the next 30-50 years. We had the election with the will of the local electorate in Okinawa and we have the US-Japan agreement. The time element also needs to be considered. We will make efforts so that at an early time we can reach a reasonable conclusion.

Questions concerning press reports about North Korea

Mr. Kawamura: Any other questions?

Q: May I change topics?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes.

Q: Regarding North Korea, I have been getting reports that North Korea has closed its gates to the outside world. How is the Japanese government seeing this situation?

Mr. Kawamura: Again, I read the press report, but I cannot confirm this.

No other questions? Thank you very much.

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