The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) urged the Environment Ministry on Tuesday to think twice about introducing a carbon tax.

Levying the new tax would hollow out industry and put a damper on the economy, which is showing signs of recovery, Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the nation's most powerful business lobby, and other senior Keidanren officials told Environment Minister Yuriko Koike during their meeting at a Tokyo hotel.

Koike met with JBF executives on the issue for the first time since taking office in September.

The envisioned carbon tax would be imposed on fossil fuels -- including gasoline and oil -- to reduce the use of energy and thus greenhouse gas emissions, which are believed to be causing global warming.

The ministry in August proposed that the tax be levied on importers and processors of fossil fuels instead of on retailers and consumers, saying it would be easier to manage the calculation and collection.

Since the proposal, the ministry has been trying to gain acceptance from businesses, but opposition to the tax seems to have no end.

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, Japan is required to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

The ministry believes it will be necessary to introduce a carbon tax if Japan is to attain its protocol pledges.