A senior official from Japan's trade and industry sector suggested that 2005 would be a suitable base year for determining reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in a future climate agreement, instead of using 1990 as the base year as proposed by the Kyoto Protocol. Japan believes that using 1990 as the base year is unfair to Japanese industries that have already made significant investments in energy efficiency. However, Japan has not officially declared what the new base year should be. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) spokesperson stated that the vice minister, Takao Kitabata, believes that 2005 would be a fair base year. This potential change may face opposition from the European Union, which has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. Approximately 190 countries came to an agreement during UN-led discussions in Bali to begin two years of negotiations for a new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol currently only requires wealthy nations to reduce emissions by an average of five percent between 2008 and 2012 compared to 1990 levels. The successor to Kyoto would include all nations, with the "Bali roadmap" acknowledging the necessity of significant reductions in global emissions. However, disagreements exist regarding the specifics of binding targets and the reference year for those targets.