"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Remarks by H.E. Mr. Seiji Maehara, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, at the Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change hosted by the Government of Mexico

[Place] New York
[Date] September 25, 2010
[Source] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
[Notes]
[Full text]

Madam Chairperson,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all I would like to express my appreciation to the Government of Mexico for initiating this Ministerial Meeting.

Although further progress based on the Copenhagen Accord is needed, unfortunately, the international negotiations on climate change fall far behind from the Copenhagen Accord.

Our ultimate goal is early adoption of a new and comprehensive legal document that establishes a fair and effective international framework in which all major economies participate. For that purpose, a series of balanced COP decisions must be adopted at COP16 in order to push forward the substance of the Copenhagen Accord. We should go beyond the debate of whether or not to have a Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period.

For the future of our planet, we, ministers, must break the deadlock and push the negotiations forward. I would hope that, as the host country of COP 16, the Mexican Government will exercise a strong initiative in drafting a series of such decisions, and in establishing a timeframe for the negotiations toward COP 16.

To push the negotiations forward, it is important to quickly implement the 30 billion dollars' fast-start financing over three years that was stipulated in the Copenhagen Accord. Japan has already implemented approximately 5.3 billion dollars out of 15 billion dollars announced as the "Hatoyama Initiative".

Next month, on October the twenty-sixth, with the Minister in charge from Papua New Guinea, I will host a Ministerial Meeting with a view to enhancing further development of REDD Plus Partnership. I hope that the Ministerial Meeting will lead to the achievement of tangible results at COP 16.

Finally, I would like to note that Japan is determined to take the lead in international negotiations through the initiatives I have just described.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.