Civic groups have put a satirical ad in The Financial Times mocking Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for refusing to agree to set new commitments for greenhouse gas emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.
The small ad, which appeared in the daily's edition today, has Kan's picture pasted onto a scene from the animated Japanese movie ''Spirited Away,'' with the title ''Climate Treaty: Washed Away?''
Kan is ''living in a fantasy, imagining he can refuse a new Kyoto Protocol commitment period without wrecking hopes for a global climate treaty,'' the ad says. ''As UN talks in Mexico bog down, the world needs Kan to wake up.''
The ad campaign, organized by several civic groups, including Avaaz, came as Japan renewed its opposition to setting a new commitment period after the current five-year commitment period ends in 2012.
Disagreements over the issue, which have pitted Japan against developing countries, have left progress on the matter unclear at the ongoing UN climate change conference in Mexico, which is set to end on Friday.
The 1997 pact binds developed countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels over the period between 2008 and 2012.
{{/usCountry}}The 1997 pact binds developed countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels over the period between 2008 and 2012.
{{/usCountry}}