Japan shocks world by refusing to inscribe its emission targets under a new Kyoto Protocol commitment period, stunning negotiators, leaving a huge cloud over the summit

Movie-themed advert asks Japan: Is a climate treaty ‘Washed Away’?

by Heather Libby, TckTckTck, December 10, 2010

One of the most shocking revelations at the Cancun climate talks was Japan refusing to inscribe its emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol, the famous treaty agreed in the ancient Japanese capital in 1997. This decision stunned negotiators and has left a cloud over the climate summit and overshadowed two weeks of otherwise productive talks.

Together with our partners at Avaaz, TckTckTck sponsored an advertisement in the Friday edition of the Financial Times identifying Japan as the main blocker of progress toward a fair, ambitious and binding climate treaty at UN climate talks concluding tomorrow.

The ad parodies an iconic poster for “Spirited Away,” the country’s all-time highest-grossing film and is being published in the international editions of the Financial Times, reaching a large readership around the world, including in Japan. 1000 copies of the newspaper are being distributed at the conference venues Cancun Messe and Moon Palace.

“Time is running out for negotiators in Cancun to agree a package of decisions that would give us a basis for a strong climate treaty next year in Durban, and Japan’s hard line position is putting the entire conference at risk,” said Paul Horsman, TckTckTck Campaign Director.

“Millions of people around the world are getting on with taking action on climate change. Japan needs to become part of this and help ensure the survival of people and ecosystems, while realising that a strong climate deal also benefits their own economic development. The country that gave birth to the Kyoto Protocol should not become the one that killed it,” added Horsman.

The ad offers a different take on the hit animated movie “Spirited Away” by famous Director, Hayao Miyazaki. In “Spirited Away”, a little girl follows her parents down a dirt road ending up in a fantasy world. ”Like the girl in 'Spirited Away' Japan is right now at cross roads,” said Horsman. “One path leads to fantasy land, where the world’s hopes for a binding treaty are washed away. The other leads to true leadership and a safe climate future.”

The text of the ad reads:

JAPAN PRESENTS
A THREATENING TO ABANDON KYOTO FILM
Climate treaty: Washed Away?

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is living in a fantasy – imagining he can refuse a new Kyoto Protocol commitment period without wrecking hopes for a global climate treaty. As UN talks in Mexico bog down, the world needs Kan to wake up: if he abandons Kyoto, the climate treaty will be washed away!

AVAAZ.ORG & TCKTCKTCK.org, IN ASSOCIATION WITH ALL LIFE ON EARTH, AT THIS WORLD-IN-THE-BALANCE MOMENT, URGES NAOTO KAN AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN TO RECOMMIT TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL TO PREVENT US ALL FROM BEING WASHED AWAY

Link:  http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/movie-themed-advert-asks-japan-is-a-climate-treaty-washed-away/