Newly appointed Environment Minister Hiroshi Oki said Friday he will focus on having the Kyoto Protocol put into force and helping Japan build "political momentum" in the runup to the August environmental summit in Johannesburg.

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Oki is back in the top environmental post after serving as head of the then Environment Agency in 1997, when he played a pivotal role in putting together the Kyoto pact at a meeting of signatories to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"(In appointing me, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi) touched on my experience as director general of the (then) Environment Agency and my work on the Kyoto Protocol," Oki said. "Currently there are a lot of protocol-related problems remaining to be solved and he gave me instructions to take care of these."

Oki, 74, assumed the post Friday, taking over from Yoriko Kawaguchi, who replaced Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka the same day.

"I want to push ahead with preparations so that Japan can approve the protocol at the Diet as soon as possible," he added.

Oki said he has high hopes that a panel of industry officials will come up with ways that citizens can contribute to curbing global warming. The panel members will be announced next week.

In addition, Oki said it is key that the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg in August, addresses a wide range of topics.