Activists Slam Japan At Climate Talks - Unveil Giant Portrait Of "George W. Aso" - AFP

Green groups at the UN climate talks blasted Japan on Wednesday for setting what they called pitifully low targets for curbing its emissions of greenhouse gases. Activists unveiled a giant photo of "George W. Aso," a composite portrait of former US president George W. Bush -- a bogey figure to environmentalists -- and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso.

And they carried out a mock awards ceremony, complete with dinosaur backdrop, in which Japan was honoured as "special fossil of the day."

Greenpeace accused Aso of kowtowing to heavy industry by failing to set a tougher figure. It calculated that Aso's goal could help to doom Earth to catastrophic warming of three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

"It appears that the Japanese government is happy to say goodbye to half of its famous beech trees by the end of the century, to live with devastating impacts such as food shortages and super typhoons -- and is willing to accept the loss of 7.6 trillion yen (55 billion dollars, 39 billion euros) a year of assets," said Yurika Ayukawa of Greenpeace International. "That's what a 3 C (5.4 F) rise could mean for Japan."

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/090610160621.vvfr32c0.html