Japanese PM heads for COP26 on first overseas trip after taking power

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Japan on Tuesday to attend the 26th United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP26).

The visit to Glasgow, Scotland, has marked Kishida's first overseas trip since he became Japanese prime minister on Oct 4.

Kishida said before his departure that he will share the measures Japan has been taking toward the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, which was committed by Kishida's pioneer Yoshihide Suga last year.

However, he will not stay overnight in Glasgow as he plans to return to Tokyo on Wednesday to start work with his new team after the Liberal Democratic Party won 261 seats out of 465 in House of Representatives elections on Sunday.

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