http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_re_as/g8_climate_change;_ylt=AsyJLXGTbEk28N8IVe9UjGBI2ocA
RUSUTSU, Japan - World leaders on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer-term targets.
The Group of Eight leading industrial nations — the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy — also called on all major economies to join together to stem the potentially dangerous rise in world temperatures.
The leaders of major developing countries such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa said they expect the G-8 to take the lead and provide more aid to the developing world to help it cope with climate change.
The leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the industrial nations must lead because they have the economic strength to adopt sweeping changes.
They called on the G-8 countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 percent by 2012, compared with their 1990 levels, and by up to 95 percent by 2050.
Tuesday's statement, however, addressed total world emissions rather than just those produced by wealthy countries, and critics attacked it for failing to go much beyond the G-8 statement last year.
The communique also did not set a base year from which emissions would be cut.
"It falls dangerously short of what is needed to protect people and nature from climate change," said Kim Carstensen, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative.
Environmentalists have argued that the 50 percent reduction target is insufficient, and have clamored for ambitious targets for countries to cut emissions by 2020. Japan itself has set a national target for cutting emissions by between 60 percent and 80 percent by 2050, but has not set a midterm goal.
"To be meaningful and credible, a long term goal must have a base year, it must be underpinned by ambitious midterm targets and actions," said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. "As it is expressed in the G8 statement, the long term goal is an empty slogan."
Shorter-term targets have been much more difficult to reach consensus on, since they would require nations to act more quickly. The United States, for instance, has argued that meeting a Europe-supported goal of reducing emissions by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 is unrealistic."
The powerfull US led by Bush blocks any real progress not surprisingly.Is it not fair that the burden to lead in reductions should be on the wealthier countries who have already done by far the most damage?
RUSUTSU, Japan - World leaders on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer-term targets.
The Group of Eight leading industrial nations — the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy — also called on all major economies to join together to stem the potentially dangerous rise in world temperatures.
The leaders of major developing countries such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa said they expect the G-8 to take the lead and provide more aid to the developing world to help it cope with climate change.
The leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the industrial nations must lead because they have the economic strength to adopt sweeping changes.
They called on the G-8 countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 percent by 2012, compared with their 1990 levels, and by up to 95 percent by 2050.
Tuesday's statement, however, addressed total world emissions rather than just those produced by wealthy countries, and critics attacked it for failing to go much beyond the G-8 statement last year.
The communique also did not set a base year from which emissions would be cut.
"It falls dangerously short of what is needed to protect people and nature from climate change," said Kim Carstensen, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative.
Environmentalists have argued that the 50 percent reduction target is insufficient, and have clamored for ambitious targets for countries to cut emissions by 2020. Japan itself has set a national target for cutting emissions by between 60 percent and 80 percent by 2050, but has not set a midterm goal.
"To be meaningful and credible, a long term goal must have a base year, it must be underpinned by ambitious midterm targets and actions," said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. "As it is expressed in the G8 statement, the long term goal is an empty slogan."
Shorter-term targets have been much more difficult to reach consensus on, since they would require nations to act more quickly. The United States, for instance, has argued that meeting a Europe-supported goal of reducing emissions by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 is unrealistic."
The powerfull US led by Bush blocks any real progress not surprisingly.Is it not fair that the burden to lead in reductions should be on the wealthier countries who have already done by far the most damage?
