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Japan mulls carbon credits for firms using renewables

Japan plans to offer carbon credits to small and medium-sized companies that use renewable energy or invest in projects that reduce greenhouse gases.

The environment ministry plans to create Verified Emission Reduction credits (VERs) as soon as October, a ministry official said under condition of anonymity because the plan hasn’t been completed. The credits will be traded on a Web-based platform developed by the ministry.

The VERs are similar to credits traded under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows polluters in rich countries to buy credits from projects that cut emissions in poor nations. Unlike in Europe, where governments impose mandatory caps on emissions, Japanese companies have volunteered to meet reduction targets. The ministry has yet to work out whether the Japanese credits can be swapped with UN credits, the official said.

“If VERs could be exchanged with UN credits, companies would have a bigger incentive to increase the use of renewable fuels and acquire the Japanese credits,” said Kuniyuki Nishimura, research director of the global warming division of Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc in Tokyo.

The environment ministry in April set up the Japan Carbon Offset Forum, an independent body that will validate the VERs. Similarly, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change issues certified emissions-reduction credits under the CDM.

Lumine Co, a Tokyo-based shopping-mall operator, will offset its carbon emissions by buying VERs from the government of Kochi Prefecture as soon as the new credits are created, spokeswoman Masako Masuda said.
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