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P 182238Z MAR 09
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000604 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/SECC, IO, EEB, EAP/J 
STATE ALSO FOR OES/EGC - TTALLEY, NBARTH, CSIERAWSKI 
DEPT PASS CEQ 
NSC FOR CCONNORS, JLOI 
USDOC FOR NOAA CLIMATE CHANGE OFFICE - STHURSTON 
DOT FOR LLAWSON, CMITTELHOLTZ 
EPA FOR SFULTON 
USDOE FOR S-3, RMARLAY, SRUEN 
FAA FOR CBURLESON 
PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG PREL ECON JA
SUBJECT: WHO'S WHO IN JAPAN'S CLIMATE TEAM 
 
REF: TOKYO 423 
 
TOKYO 00000604  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Japanese Prime Minister is advised by 
the Council on Global Warming and by an interagency group 
that includes the Chief Cabinet Secretary and the Ministers 
for Foreign Affairs, of Economics, Trade and Industry, and of 
Environment.  The Council on Global Warming is chaired by 
former Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda -- who is also a vice 
president of Keidanren, Japan's leading business association 
-- and 13 members from industry, academia, and local 
government.  A group of five senior bureaucrats, two from the 
Cabinet Office, and one each from the METI and the foreign 
and environmental ministries, play a central role in shaping 
policies for final, political-level approval.  Foreign 
Ministry DG for Global Issues, Shinsuke Sugiyama, is the only 
one of these to meet regularly with foreign officials and he 
had been named the PM's and Foreign Minister's representative 
for preparing for his engagement in multilateral bodies' 
meetings on climate change.  This role also positions him to 
play a prominent role in Japan's engagement in the UNFCCC 
process.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------- 
PM's Council and Advisors 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Prime Minister receives advice on climate issues 
from the Council on Global Warming, which is chaired by 
former Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda and consists of 13 
members from industry, academia, and local government.  The 
Council makes recommendations to the PM on climate change 
policy, but it is not a decision-making body per se.  The 
ministers from MOE, METI and MOFA, and the Chief Cabinet 
Secretary also attend Council meetings.  In addition to the 
Council, there are two Special Advisors for Climate Change 
within the Cabinet Secretariat: former Ambassador for Global 
Environmental Affairs Mutsuyoshi Nishimura advises the PM on 
international climate policy, while former METI Vice Minister 
Kasumasa Kusaka advises the PM on domestic climate policy. 
However, by his own admission, Nishimura, who was appointed 
to the position by Prime Minister Fukuda, to date has not met 
with PM Aso to discuss climate change. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Under the Council are three subcommittees: 
 
-- Policy Measures (such as emissions trading), chaired by 
Akio Morishima, Special Research Advisor to the Institute for 
Global Environmental Strategies (IGES); 
 
-- Creating Eco-Model Cities and a Low-Carbon Society, 
chaired by Shuzo Murakami, professor of engineering at Keio 
University, and; 
 
-- Mid-Term Targets, chaired by Toshihiko Fukui, former 
Governor of the Bank of Japan. 
 
The Mid-Term Target subcommittee recently issued six 
recommendations for Japan's mid-term emissions targets. 
(Details of the proposals are available on the Japan Economic 
Scope at www.intelink.gov/communities/state/jes.)  Officials 
continue to report the PM is expected to announce Japan's 
targets by June. 
 
----------------------- 
Climate Policy-Making 
----------------------- 
 
TOKYO 00000604  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The core of Japan's climate policy is developed by 
five senior officials.  Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary 
(ACCS) Susumu Fukuda advises the PM on domestic climate 
policy and ACCS Keiichi Hayashi advises the PM on 
international climate policy.  These cabinet office officials 
meet monthly with senior officials from three ministries: 
MOFA Director General for Global Issues Shinsuke Sugiyama, 
MOE Director General for Global Environment Tatsushi Terada, 
and METI Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Director 
General Masanori Suzuki.  In addition to his role in policy 
formulation, MOFA's Sugiyama is in charge of Japan's 
bilateral climate change relations and is the only one of the 
five who regularly meets with foreign climate officials. 
Sugiyama has been named the PM's and Foreign Minister's 
representative regarding preparations for multinational 
bodies' discussions on climate change and energy. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The ministers of these agencies -- Hirofumi 
Nakasone (MOFA), Toshihiro Nikai (METI), Testuro Saito (MOE), 
plus Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura -- meet less 
frequently than the ACCS-DG group.  They convene before a 
major decision or international meeting, or to smooth 
inter-agency differences on climate policy.  Given his strong 
interest in climate change issues, Environment Minister Saito 
has a leading role in the ministers' meeting.  In general, 
the policy debate within the GOJ sees METI championing the 
concerns of Japanese industry, particularly the Japan 
Business Federation (Keidanren), while MOE often represents 
the viewpoint of academics, environmentalists and 
non-government organizations (NGOs).  The Foreign Ministry, 
as lead agency in Japan's international climate negotiations, 
brings a sense of where negotiations stand and what may be 
achievable. 
 
------------------------ 
Climate Negotiating Team 
------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) Environment Minister Saito heads Japan's United 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 
COP/MOP delegation.  MOFA Ambassador for Global Environmental 
Issues Akihiko Furuya, while not in the policy-making line 
described above, advises Saito at the COP/MOP and heads 
Japan's delegation to the Ad Hoc Working Group (AWG).  METI 
is represented at the AWG Kyoto Protocol meetings by Deputy 
Director General for Global Environmental Affairs Jun Arima. 
Deputy Director General Kazuhiko Hombu of the Agency for 
Natural Resources and Energy is the head METI negotiator at 
the AWG Long-term Cooperative Action meetings.  Counselor for 
Global Environment Masaru Moriya represents MOE in the AWG. 
ZUMWALT