G8 'will not set targets'

2008-06-17 12:22

Tokyo - The upcoming Group of Eight summit in Japan will not set medium-term targets for global cuts in carbon emissions but should help push forward UN-led climate negotiations, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said on Tuesday.

The United States has opposed setting targets at the July 7-9 summit of rich countries, saying that action on global warming should also involve developing nations.

"Agreeing on a medium-term target is the core challenge for the UN negotiations that will take place up to the end of 2009," Fukuda told a group interview with news agencies from the G8 nations.

"The G8 is not a forum to agree on that target," he said.

But he hoped to achieve setting a long-term target.

"We will strive to engage in constructive discussions so that we will be able to come up with a concrete outcome with regards to long-term targets," Fukuda said.

A UN-backed conference in Bali in December set a deadline of the end of next year to reach a climate deal on emissions cuts for the period after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The United States, the only major industrial nation to reject the Kyoto Protocol, has said any solution on climate change must involve all countries, including developing states.

Japan has also invited leaders of other major greenhouse gas emitters, including China and India, for an expanded summit on the final day of the G8.

"What is important is that all major economies participate in a responsible manner. We would like to strive to come up with a political outcome that will encourage the realisation of an effective post-Kyoto framework," Fukuda said.

Fukuda last week said that Japan would aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 80% by 2050 from current levels.

His government is still studying a mid-term target, which would likely cover the period to 2020.

Environmentalists said ambitious mid-term targets are needed to push ahead action on climate change since 2050 is too far off in the future.

- AFP