OSAKA — Prime Minister Taro Aso's announcement Wednesday that Japan will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 appears to have pleased nobody.
Criticism immediately came from those who called the figure scientifically invalid and too low to make a difference, and those who feared it was too high and would impose huge cost burdens on Japanese consumers and businesses.
Attention is now turning to whether it will influence nations still discussing their own midterm goals — especially the United States and China — which account for more than 40 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.