Japanese Government Announces Green Stimulus Package

Where: Tokyo, Japan

April 11, 2009 : The recession has prompted many governments to inject ‘stimulus packages’ to boost their countries’ economies. Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso announced a package with a green focus. His government will encourage the start of mass production of electric cars in three years. It also has plans to boost solar power generation to 20 times the current level of 1.42m kilowatts.

Then there is a car scrappage scheme, under which motorists who trade in cars that are more than 13 years old for environment-friendly vehicles will receive subsidies. Energy efficient car owners will get to pay less tax.

Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 2.3 per cent over the year 2008. This was 16 per cent above the target that the country committed itself to achieving by 2013. Japan has a poor track record on green spending. Until now only 2.6 per cent of total government spending had been set aside for climate change measures. In the United States, the corresponding figure was 12 per cent, and in China it was 34 per cent. However good Japan’s Green New Deal sounds, it does not put any pressure on industries, which are the biggest polluters. Rather, the responsibility of going green has been left to individual householders and businesses.

Related Links – If you want to know more about Japan:
Japan: Where is it? Click here to see it on the map
Japan: Country profile
Japan: Latest news about Green Stimulus Package
Japan: Images from Japan
Japan: More about Japan

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Filed under: world news
Tags: #japan

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