Kishida leaves for one-day trip to COP26

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Japan on Tuesday to attend the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, just after his ruling party won Sunday's general election and secured a mandate to pursue his policies.

The visit to Glasgow, Scotland, marks Kishida's first overseas trip since becoming prime minister on Oct 4. He succeeded Yoshihide Suga who last year committed Japan to the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but stepped down partly due to public discontent with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I want to firmly convey to the world Japan's strong resolve to exercise leadership toward zero emissions in Asia as a whole," Kishida told reporters before his departure. He said he will share the steps Japan has been taking toward the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

His visit to Glasgow will be brief, however, as he will not stay overnight and plans to return to Tokyo on Wednesday to start work with his new team after the Liberal Democratic Party won 261 seats in Sunday's 465-seat House of Representatives election.

Kishida said he plans to hold talks with leaders including British Prime Minister and host of the conference Boris Johnson and Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Kishida, a former long-serving foreign minister, is also seeking to speak with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the conference, their first in-person conversation since he became Japan's leader.

A day after taking office last month, Kishida spoke with Biden by phone in his first conversation with a foreign leader as prime minister.

Last month, Japan formally submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent by fiscal 2030 compared with fiscal 2013 levels.

The new target, which goes beyond the previous commitment of a 26 percent cut, was pledged by Suga in April.

The two-week climate talks began on Sunday to advance actions to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, with the leaders' session running two days through Tuesday.

One of the main aims of the U.N. conference is to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C from pre-industrial levels within reach, which scientists say will only be possible through the "most stringent" efforts to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.