(Provisional Translation)

Statement by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi

July 23, 2001



  1. Japan, as the country that assumed the Presidency at the Kyoto Conference, has made its utmost effort to reach as many agreements as possible at the resumed Conference of the Parties to the Sixth Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP6), toward enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. Japan welcomes the basic agreement on "core elements," which has been consequently reached under the Presidency of Mr. Jan Pronk.

  2. Detailed rules and specific target numbers regarding Kyoto Protocol implementation are left for subsequent negotiations. Japan intends to continue to do its best to achieve a final agreement by COP7 with a view to the implementation of the Protocol in 2002. Japan will also continue to make its utmost endeavors to develop our domestic system toward achieving the targets in the Protocol.

  3. It is important that all countries act under a single set of rules. In order to achieve an agreement inclusive of the United States, Japan would like to continue its maximum efforts, while calling on the United States to take a constructive approach through such fora as the Japan-US High-Level-Government-to-Government Consultations.