Efforts by big firms helped the country as a whole achieve its
pledge under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, to cut
emissions by 6% from the 1990 level as of calendar 2012. TOKYO
-- Japan's big manufacturers reduced greenhouse gas emissions by
nearly 15% annually on average over the past five years compared
to 1990, according to a survey in the Nikkei daily Sunday. The
projected annual average reduction of 14.9% in the five years to
March this year compares to the level in the 1990 fiscal year,
the business daily said. It said efforts by the big firms helped
the country as a whole achieve its pledge under the Kyoto
Protocol on global warming, to cut emissions by 6% from the 1990
level as of calendar 2012. Japan is believed to have comfortably
achieved this binding commitment, although there has been no
official announcement. Average emissions from all sources
between 2008 and 2010 were 10.9% lower, if carbon trades with
developing countries and forest sinks are taken into
consideration. Because forests a