By DPA,
Tokyo : Environmental ministers from eight nations were in the western Japanese city of Kobe Saturday for a three-day meeting to discuss measures to fight climate change.
Group of Eight (G-8) ministers were expected to discuss a target proposed by Japan to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a sector-based approach to developing a climate change plan for after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
During the meeting, Japan also plans to encourage G-8 member states and emerging economies, such as China and India, to help developing nations achieve economic growth and tackle pollution and waste management through a “co-benefits approach”.
The Kobe meeting on environmental issues, which comes ahead of the July G-8 summit in Japan’s northern city of Toyako, involves ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, as well as China, India, Mexico and South Africa.