By KUNA,
Tokyo : Environment chiefs from top industrial countries agreed Monday to call for an agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, declaring that developed nations would take the lead in combating global warming.
In a joint statement issued after a three-day meeting in Kobe, western Japan, the G-8 ministers also urged developed countries to take the lead in achieving a significant reduction. “Developed countries must commit to quantified national emission targets, actively adopting measures to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, while further mitigation actions by developing countries are also necessary,” the statement said.
Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Antigua and Barbuda also took part in the talks.
The ministers also said it is especially crucial for countries with rapidly increasing gas emissions or emerging economies such as China and India to strive to curb the rate of increase.
At last year’s G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US agreed to “seriously consider” reducing the world’s output of greenhouse gases by at least half by 2050. The environment chiefs said a strong political will was expressed to go beyond (last year’s G-8) agreement and reach an agreement on a shared vision of a long-term global goal at the G-8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit on July 7-9.
Speaking at a press conference, Japanese Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita Japan will play an active role in UN negotiations for a post-Kyoto framework, which expires in 2012. The 1997 Kyoto climate treaty covers only 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
China and the US, the world’s two biggest polluters, reject the Kyoto accord.