Green Times

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Saturday urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to tackle climate change as he sought to galvanise efforts ahead of July’s G8 summit.”It is necessary for all major emitters to participate in efforts” to fight climate change, he said, speaking in front of lawmakers from the world’s eight most industrialised nations as well as five major emerging economies.

Climate change “is a borderless problem. It will remain unresolved if only some countries participate, even if they do their best,” he added at a forum on climate change where former British PM Tony Blair was also present.

Fukuda was speaking ahead of the July 7-9 G8 summit to be held in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where climate change and global warming are expected to be major topics for discussion.

“At the Hokkaido summit I would like to deepen common recognition (with counterparts) over climate change and send out a powerful message that we will work together,” he said.

Blair, who works with the non-profit Climate Group, also urged the world’s biggest emitters to reach an agreement over a proposal presented during last year’s G8 summit in Germany to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“If you can’t get agreement amongst the major countries you’re not going to get an agreement,” he said.

“But I think and hope we will this year get agreement on an essential shared vision around 2050. I believe that is possible,” Blair added.

The G8 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Japan has also invited Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa to a parallel summit on climate change on July 9.

Source: AFP