Domestic Initiatives in a Global Context? Japan's Approaches to the Emissions Trading Schemes for the International Climate Change Regime

Abstract

Although in 2011 Japan finally decided not to participate in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, under the principles of sustainable development and common but differentiated responsibilities, it has probed the ways in which the ‘ultimate objective’ of the UNFCCC will be realized in the international community. With regard to socalled ‘emissions trading,’ since the middle of the 2000s, Japan has continuously adopted various methods and approaches for domestic emissions trading at local and central government levels. This article analyzes Japan’s recent efforts in introducing emissions trading schemes and finally refers to the Joint Crediting Mechanism, which covers the period until a future new agreement under the UNFCCC comes into effect.