Student Questions Japan's Climate Reduction Target
A Japanese university student is questioning the government's new target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Nakamura Suzuka, who is a member of the international youth climate movement Fridays for Future, attended the Lower House committee meeting as an observer on Friday.
The movement emerged after Swedish activist Greta Thunberg began skipping school every Friday in 2018 to bring attention to climate change.
Nakamura said Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide did not show scientific evidence when he announced his new target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on Thursday. She said the target is not enough to protect peoples' lives from climate change.
Nakamura also said when she heard the reduction target of 46 percent, she feels that adults are saying, "you have no future." She said she wants more ambitious actions.
Another observer attending the meeting was Professor Takamura Yukari, from the University of Tokyo Institute for Future Initiatives.
Takamura said Japanese society will have to change drastically to achieve the new target. She said the central government will need to clarify a long-term plan for emissions reduction to realize a carbon-free society by 2050.