On January 26, 2008, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made the following proposals for the post-Kyoto Framework, International Environment Cooperation, and Innovation, taking up climate change as a top priority issue in his speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 (Davos Forum).

To build up post-Kyoto Framework, the Prime Minister, as the chair of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, will work toward establishing a framework in which all major gas emitting countries can participate, as well as setting fair targets to reduce green gas emissions. For setting this target, Japan, with other emitters, will take a quantified national target based on a bottom-up approach (tallying up the reduction volume) on a sectoral basis, and check up the base year.

For International Environment Cooperation, Japan will transfer its cutting-edge environmental technology to a greater number of countries and set a global target of 30 percent improvement of energy efficiency by 2020. To assist developing countries, which are working for both economic growth and emission reduction, Japan will establish a new financial mechanism, called the “Cool Earth Partnership” with US$10 billion of financial support.

Japan will invest approximately US$30 billion in research and development in environmental and energy fields for the next five years. Collaborating closely with international agencies, the country will accelerate technological development, and build up a framework to share the results of these programs. To transform Japan into a low-carbon society, the Prime Minister will both examine technological measures and thoroughly review the social systems of Japan.