Japan to set 15 percent carbon cut target from 2005: report

Smoke is emitted from a factory at Keihin industrial zone in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo October 22, 2008.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will announce that Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, will aim to cut emissions by 15 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

Such a cut would be slightly bigger than a minus 14 percent option -- equivalent to minus 7 percent from 1990 levels -- that media had reported as the most likely scenario.

Aso is set to hold a news conference to announce Japan's 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target at 5 a.m. EDT.

(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka)