Rather, both organizations came down in favour of intensified cooperation between business and government, which will lead to more efficient methods of achieving the environmental policy goals. In this context, BDI and Keidanren attach the utmost importance to voluntary agreements, particularly in the field of global warming prevention.
A responsible approach to global warming prevention cannot be based on an isolated national effort or on compulsion. If the German and Japanese state of the art were applied in industrial production worldwide, an enormous potential for CO2 reduction could be unlocked. The wider application of this state of the art and increased technology transfer is therefore an indispensable precondition for a reduction in resource consumption and for worldwide global warming prevention.
However, the transfer of energy and resource saving technologies can only take place within an adequate regulatory framework and with greater support from political leadership: they should help to enhance mutual understanding between supplier and recipient countries and to create sound and reliable legal conditions for investment security.
Industry in Germany and Japan is prepared to shoulder its share of responsibility and to cooperate with government in the Joint Implementation Pilot Phase decided upon at COP 1.
Particularly with a view to global warming prevention, CO2-free nuclear energy is of great importance. In the international energy mix nuclear energy has a significant role to play, for reasons of independent and secure energy supply and because of its ecological and economic advantages.