G-8 leaders urged to agree on 50% emission cut by 2050

Japan Policy & Politics, July 7, 2008

TOKYO, July 2 Kyodo

A Japanese environmental policy expert has urged leaders from the Group of Eight nations to agree on a 50 percent cut in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at their July 7-9 summit in Japan.

''The G-8 should make a step forward after their agreement at the Heiligendamm summit last year that they would seriously consider halving global emissions by 2050,'' said Keio University professor Hironori Hamanaka. ''At least the G-8 should agree on the goal.''

At their previous summit in the German seaside resort, the G-8 countries fell short of agreeing on the Japanese-proposed 50 percent emission reduction goal itself due to strong opposition from the United States.

During the upcoming summit in Hokkaido, the G-8 leaders will hold a meeting with their counterparts from eight other countries, including China, India and Brazil which have expanded emissions on fast economic growth and hold the key to cutting global emissions to help prevent global warming.

''If all these major nations agree on the 50 percent emission reduction goal, it may greatly contribute to future international negotiations,'' said Hamanaka who was involved in international talks as vice minister for global environmental affairs at the Environment Ministry.

''If the United States hesitates to reach an agreement on the goal among the G-8 countries alone, however, the result may be devastating,'' he said. The G-8 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

In order to encourage developing countries to cut emissions, industrialized nations should take the lead in accepting substantial reductions, said Hamanaka, who is now board chairman at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

''If so, all major nations including China could agree on the 50 percent emission reduction goal,'' he said. ''It would be difficult but important for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to aggressively encourage U.S. President George W. Bush and the Chinese and Indian leaders in pursuit of the agreement.''

The world is seeking a new framework for global emission reductions beyond the expiration in 2012 of the Kyoto Protocol, which imposes emission quotas on industrialized nations, although the United States refused to join the pact.

Hamanaka said the G-8 countries should make progress in discussions on financial assistance and technology transfers that would prompt developing countries to implement emission-reduction efforts.

The G-8 should also deepen discussions on fairer approaches on global emission cuts, including a Japanese-proposed sectoral approach in which feasible sector-by-sector emission cuts would be added up to emission reduction targets, he said.