Climate change on the G8 agenda

IHT reports that climate change is among the items expected to top the G-8 summit agenda of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as he left on for the international talks in Germany:

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a newcomer to the Group of Eight summit, has made climate change a priority for the meeting. He plans to present a proposal, unveiled last month, calling for the world to aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 as part of a new global warming pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

Ahead of his departure, Abe told reporters that other G-8 nations' responses to the proposal have generally been positive, though differences remain.

"There is still a gap between the European Union and the United States, so Japan needs to take the initiative to steer toward a direction that each country can approve of generally. I feel that is our major responsibility," Abe said.

Reuters has more (but makes no reference to Shinzo Abe's efforts): Cracks on Climate as G8 Leaders Meet in Germany

More on Japan's plan to cut CO2 emissions by half by 2050 here.

(If you click on my labels - such as Climate Change or GMO - you get a list of all blog entries I have made on that particular subject)