Abe to push for 26% cut in emissions

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday he would pledge a 26 percent cut in the country's greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of a global summit on climate change this year.

He also promised to take a "leading role" in the international drive to reduce the pollutants blamed for global warming.

"This is an ambitious target that is in no way inferior to other countries internationally," Abe said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting on climate change.

The plan "reflects the Abe administration's goals of lowering reliance on nuclear power as much as possible, with efforts in energy saving and the introduction of renewable energy to the maximum extent possible", he said.

The pledge, which uses 2013 as the base year, has been dubbed unambitious by environmental groups since it was first proposed in early May.

Tokyo activist group Kiko Network said a 26 percent cut from 2013 works out to just 17 percent from1990levels.

Abe promised to play a leading role in realizing a "fair and effective framework" at the Conference of Parties, or COP21, in Paris, and in explaining Japan's position on the emissions target to the upcoming Group of Seven meeting, which opens this weekend in Germany.

The Nov 30 to Dec 11 Paris conference faces the difficult task of reaching consensus among the 196parties involved.

At the core of the deal would be a roster of national pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions-the invisible pollution from fossil fuels that is said to drive global warming.

"After soliciting public comments, we will formally submit the plan in mid-to late-July to the UN," said Yoshihide Suga, chief Cabinet secretary.