Domestic Initiatives in a Global Context? Japan's Approaches to the Emissions Trading Schemes for the International Climate Change Regime

Osamu Yoshida Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba
1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 8571 Japan
Corresponding Author: yoshida.osamu.gn@u.tsukuba.ac.jp
ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract
Although in 2011 Japan finally decided not to participate in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, under the principles of sustainable development and common but differentiated responsibilities, it has probed the ways in which the 'ultimate objective' of the UNFCCC will be realized in the international community. With regard to so-called 'emissions trading,' since the middle of the 2000s, Japan has continuously adopted various methods and approaches for domestic emissions trading at local and central government levels. This article analyzes Japan's recent efforts in introducing emissions trading schemes and finally refers to the Joint Crediting Mechanism, which covers the period until a future new agreement under the UNFCCC comes into effect.

Keywords : JVETS, Emissions Trading, Emissions Trading Scheme, Kyoto Protocol, UNFCCC, Joint Crediting Mechanism

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