Paul Ibe
10 July 2008
Tokyo, Japan — Eight emerging economies including China, yesterday backed the deal reached by the Group of Eight Nations (G8) on long-term reductions of greenhouse emissions.
However, the deal fell short of establishing formal reduction targets.
The G8 leaders reached an accord to halve greenhouse emissions by 2050. A Japanese government official told reporters that only Indonesia, Australia and South Korea supported the G8 call to share their vision of halving global emissions by 2050. Others contended that advanced countries responsible for the bulk of historical emissions must act first.
"We leaders of the world's major economies, both developed and developing, commit to combat climate change in accordance with our common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities," leaders of the 16 nations said in a joint communiquÈ at the close of the G8 Summit in Hokkaido Toyako, Japan, yesterday.
The G8 includes the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy Canada and Russia. The emerging economy nations invited for talks at the Summit included Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico and South Africa.
Leaders of emerging economies argued that developed countries should first spell out their own goals for emissions reductions. Developing countries, along with the European Union and green groups, said rich countries must take the lead and specify interim targets for reaching the mid-century goal, which scientists say is the minimum needed to prevent dangerous global warming.
But in yesterday's statement, the leaders said they share a vision for "long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions that assures growth, prosperity and other aspects of sustainable development, including major efforts towards sustainable consumption and production, all aimed at achieving a low carbon society."
The stance of emerging nations is important. The G8 nations emit about 40 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. China and India together emit about 25 per cent of the total, a proportion that is rising as their coal-fueled economies boom.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said Wednesday's meeting had been constructive. "It is quite wrong to see this in terms of a confrontation between developed and developing countries. Of course we accept the lion's share of responsibility, but this is a global challenge, which requires a global response," he said.
Climate change was not the only bone of contention at yesterday's talks. The G8 expressed "strong concerns" about the sharp rise in the price of oil, which "poses risks to the global economy."
But leaders of the main industrialised economies did not take any concrete step to try to moderate oil price in the near term. Instead, the group called for concerted efforts to address underlying supply and demand pressures.
While reaffirming its faith in global growth prospects, the G8 said the world economy "is now facing uncertainty and downside risks persist." It warned of the specific danger that high oil and food prices could "increase global inflationary pressure," as well as have "serious implications for the most vulnerable."
The G8 communiquÈ said financial market conditions had "improved somewhat in the past few months," but that serious strains still existed. The group urged banks and regulators to implement quickly, all the measures to increase financial resilience set out by the Financial Stability Forum.
The top industrialised nations made a further attempt to revive the Doha round of trade talks, calling on all countries to "work as a matter of urgency, toward the conclusion of the negotiations."
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