The Japanese Government plans to call for the establishment of two funds designed to support developing countries in their efforts to cut down greenhouse emissions.

The proposal was put forward on the basis of the Hatoyama Initiative that was mentioned by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in his speech at the UN Summit on Climate Change in New York in late September.

Under the proposal, a fund will be set up to help developing nations reduce emissions and another to assist Pacific island countries and nations, which are already being severely affected by global warming.

As scheduled, the UN will hold a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December to seek out a new agreement on cutting down greenhouse emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol that will expire in 2012. However, both developed and developing nations have yet to reach any consensus on a new pact.

The Japanese government is hopeful that the plan to establish these funds will accelerate negotiations on this issue./.