The government is planning to launch a system in fiscal 2006 to purchase emission reduction credits earned by private firms that implement overseas projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, government sources said Sunday.
With the Kyoto Protocol on global warming coming into effect in February, Japan intends to buy rights to emit greenhouse gases equal to 20 million tons of carbon dioxide annually for 20 billion yen in a bid to meet its reduction goals, the sources said.
Emissions trading was conceived as a means of achieving reduction goals for countries that ratified the protocol. Projects to cut gas emissions include energy conservation and afforestation.