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 [By Yukiko Ochi] Tokyo, Feb. 17 Kyodo -- (EDS: CLARIFYING PLACE DEMONSTRATION WAS CONDUCTED, ADDING DETAILS) 
	
	
 Environmentalist groups staged a protest against the U.S. alternative to the Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Sunday prior to President George W. Bush's arrival in the capital. 
	
	
 About 50 members of various Japanese and U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) opposed to the U.S. alternative to the 1997 pact gathered around 1 p.m. at Tameike-Sanno Station, close to the embassy in Tokyo's Minato Ward. 
	
	
 "We cannot accept it by any means. It is very regrettable that the United States has taken a negative stand," Masaaki Nakajima of Friends of the Earth (FoE) Japan said. 
	
	
 Protesters carried banners reading, "Ratify the Kyoto Protocol," and "Koizumi say 'No' to Bush: Stick to Kyoto Protocol." 
	
	
 The demonstration came amid heightened security around the embassy as well as elsewhere in Tokyo for the president's visit. 
	
	
 Representatives of the NGOs including Kiko Network, Peace Boat and FoE Japan handed a letter addressed to Bush to a guard at the embassy. 
	
	
 In the letter, the NGOs said, "We, Japanese environmental NGOs concerned about climate change, were terribly dismayed by your new climate change plan." 
	
	
 On Thursday, Bush unveiled the new plan that calls for voluntary limits on greenhouse gas emissions by companies in accordance with economic growth instead of mandatory reduction targets. 
	
	
 Bush sparked international outcry when he rejected the Kyoto Protocol last March, saying it would mean sacrificing U.S. economic growth. 
	
	
 "We think this plan cannot be an 'alternative' to Kyoto Protocol because it would allow the current greenhouse gas emissions of the United States to increase by around 30% compared to 1990 level in 2010," the letter said. 
	
	
 "We demand of you, Mr. President, to reconsider your climate policy plan immediately and re-enter the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is the only existing international framework to prevent dangerous climate change," it added. 
	
	
 Measures to tackle global warming will be among the main issues Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Bush will discuss when they meet Monday in Tokyo, according to Japanese and U.S. officials. 
	
	
 Kiko Network also sent an e-mail message to Koizumi urging the premier to call on Bush to return to the Kyoto Protocol at an early stage and to inform him of Japan's plan to ratify the Kyoto Protocol after the Diet approves ratification during the current Diet session. 
	
	
 Meanwhile, Peace Boat also handed a separate letter addressed to the president to the guard, calling on the U.S. to take leadership in helping developing countries through "peaceful dialogue and fair economic support." 
	
	
 In reference to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington last year, the letter said, "Don't push the Japanese government or any other government to cooperate in your 'war against terrorism'." 
	
	
 It also called on the U.S. to stop all air raids on Afghanistan, cease nuclear experiments and reduce U.S. military bases in Japan, among other requests.