At a joint meeting, the environment and economy, trade and industry ministries proposed a new target of 14 percentage points higher than the current target, saying a more aggressive cut is needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Since a U.N. climate panel has requested each country to submit its new emissions reduction targets for 2035 by next February, Tokyo plans to include its goal in a draft plan contemplating countermeasures against global warming, expected to be compiled by the end of the year, the ministries announced.

Japan currently has a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by fiscal year 2030, compared with fiscal year 2013 levels.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has assessed that global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 60% by 2035, compared to 2019 levels, to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

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