Japan admits carbon emissions are 'at a record high'

Japan's total emissions from March 2007-08 increased by 2.3 per cent on the previous year, it was announced.

The country, currently the world's fifth-largest carbon dioxide emitter, has said that the increase could be attributed partly to the closure of the country's largest nuclear power plant.

According to figures from the ministry of environment, Japan's emissions of C02 rose to 1.371 billion metric tonnes over the timeframe, despite a 3.1 per cent decline the year before.

The levels dictated by the Kyoto Agreement recommend a target of 6 per cent less than 1990 emissions.

Tetsunari Iida, executive director of Tokyo's Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, said: "We immediately need a set of effective policies to drive a change towards a more climate-friendly society."

This news comes after China's chief of the national development and reform commission Xie Zhenua admitted that the country is at least on a par with the US when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.