​Tokyo, March 15 (IANS) The Japanese government on Tuesday committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by endorsing a plan to achieve its goal by more than a quarter within 15 years.

The initial plan is to cut emissions by 26 percent in 2030 from 2013 levels and thereafter to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, as per a new global deal on climate change that brokered at a conference on the matter in Paris in December 2015.
"Measures to deal with global warming are a top priority issue for the Cabinet," Xinhua news agency quoted the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying.
"We will do our utmost to work on the issue," he said during a meeting on the matter on Tuesday, during which he called for more attention to be given to the research and the development of clean energy batteries.The plan seeks to set limitations on emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels, a mainstay while the nation's nuclear plants are offline for safety checks in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns which were triggered by a tsunami five years ago.

Private residences and office buildings will be called on to reduce power consumption and adopt eco-friendly technologies.

Prior to being approved by the Cabinet ahead of the Group of Seven industrialised nations' summit to be held in Japan in May, the public will be polled for their opinions on Japan's energy goals. ​