President Obama arrived in Tokyo about six hours ago for the start of his 8-day Asia trip and the White House has announced he’s secured agreements on both climate change and nuclear weapons.
In a joint statement with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama the leaders said they aim to reduce carbon emissions in Japan and the U.S. by 80 percent by 2050. They also said they “endorse a global goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by that year.”
The U.S. and Japan also issued a joint statement complimenting “renewed international attention and commitment to achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” and said they are determined “to realize such a world.”
The start of the trip is marked with big news back home – Attorney General Eric Holder will be announcing today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison will face trial in New York. Also, White House counsel Greg Craig is leaving and being replaced with longtime Obama friend Bob Bauer.
The White House laid out more climate change details which you can read after the jump.
Acceleration of joint activities between national laboratories of the United States and Japan through R&D cooperation, exchanges of information, knowledge and researchers, workshops and conferences, and collaboration on standards research;
Establishment of a task force that will evaluate the achievements of existing clean energy projects in Hawaii and Okinawa to enable the islands to be energy independent, including micro-grid projects, and develop activities to help the two islands share experiences and knowledge with each other;
Deepening of cooperation in the area of smart grid through such activities as information and experience sharing from demonstration projects, and development of standards;
Cooperation on carbon capture and storage including modeling, testing and data sharing for the purpose of prediction and mitigation of the possible risks, and the development of new capture methods, simulation tools and monitoring methods;
Strengthened partnership on nuclear energy including on advanced fuel cycle technologies, effective use of existing facilities and enhanced seismic safety technologies, recognizing both countries play an important role in global expansion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy in a manner ensuring nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security;
Enhancement of cooperative research, development and deployment activities in additional areas including basic research, renewables, energy efficient buildings, and next generation vehicles; and
Close cooperation on energy issues and the development of joint projects.
