Japan says it will do its utmost to ensure that the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change enters into force by the end of next year, even without participation by the US.
But the Japanese Environment Minister, Ms Yoriko Kawaguchi, said yesterday that the "best scenario" would be to have the US on board, and Japan was trying to bridge the gap to make this possible.
At the same time she said her government did not have an interest in delaying the international process of negotiations on the rules for implementing Kyoto's legally-binding cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions.
However, Ms Kawaguchi avoided answering a direct question about whether Japan had decided to proceed with ratifying the protocol if the Bush administration sticks to its decision to renege on it.
Asked about the view of the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, that it was unlikely agreement would be reached at the Bonn conference, Ms Kawaguchi said she had "a full mandate to negotiate".
"It is very important for all the countries to act to combat global warming," she said. The Kyoto Protocol was also very important for Japan.
But first, the countries represented in Bonn would have to agree on detailed implementation rules. In this regard, Japan was seeking further concessions to allow more liberal use of forests as "carbon sinks".
Friends of the Earth attacked Japan's demand for even bigger sinks allowances, saying it threatened the environmental integrity of Kyoto and raised serious questions over whether the protocol would survive.
At her news conference, the Japanese Environment Minister said she had tried to persuade the US to participate "positively and constructively" in the Bonn talks.
"I don't know of any country which says it does not want the US to participate, so I think that someone needs to make an effort to bridge the gap. However, I think it is also important not to wait too long for the US to come in," she said.
Asked how Japanese industry could bear the cost of reducing emissions if one of its major competitors had no such constraints, Ms Kawaguchi said it was not just an issue for industry but about `'changing our way of life".
All countries would find it hard to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions, she told the news conference. "Everyone has to try. It is not easy, but it is important for the Earth we live in and for future generations," she said.
Asked if she thought agreement would be reached by Sunday, she said it was difficult to predict.
She was more enigmatic about whether the US was trying to obstruct progress in Bonn. `When I was in Washington, I made a point of urging the US to participate actively and constructively. Their answer was `Have you ever seen an American who is not active?'," she said.
