Japan puts off interim C02 goal

By Chisa Fujioka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will start a trial system for carbon trade this year, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said on Monday, unveiling a climate change policy that set a goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but stopped short of what environmentalists say is key.

Japan will aim to cut its emissions by 60-80 percent by 2050 and announce an interim target sometime next year, Fukuda said in a speech one month before hosting a G8 summit, where global warming is high on the agenda.

Tokyo will also contribute up to $1.2 billion to a new multilateral fund with the United States and Britain that will help developing countries fight global warming, Fukuda said.

The world's fifth-largest emitter, Japan estimates it can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent by 2020 from current levels, Fukuda said, in a nod to pressure to set a firm interim target as host of the G8 summit next month.

"When talking about the near future, we no longer have the luxury of encouraging others or spending time playing a game of setting targets for political propaganda," said Fukuda.

Environmentalists, however, were disappointed.

"The G8 leaders need to make concrete steps forward to a low carbon world, and Japan's Prime Minister Fukuda needs to push hard to trigger that leadership," said Kathrin Gutmann, WWF Climate Policy Coordinator, in a policy statement.

"In this light, Fukuda presents only a blurred vision and the lack of a 2020 target for emissions reduction is utterly disappointing," Gutmann said in a statement.