ID :
11102
Mon, 06/30/2008 - 10:18
Auther :

U.N. Chief Ban Seeks Japan's Strong Leadership at G-8 Summit

Tokyo, June 28 (Jiji Press)--U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon,
now in Japan on the first leg of his three-nation Asian tour, on Saturday urged the country to take a strong leadership at the Group of Eight summit to be held in the lakeside resort of Toyako in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on July 7-9.

Japan's leadership has never been so important than now, Ban told
reporters aboard a Shinkansen train. The U.N. chief, who arrived in Tokyo
early Saturday afternoon, was traveling to the western Japan city of Kyoto.

Participants at the G-8 summit should reach a benchmark considered
to be reasonable and successful over climate change, he said, thus
implicitly urging the leaders of the eight countries to pursue an agreement
on a numerical target, he said.


Ban noted that the G-8 countries--Britain, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States--generally lack political
determination in tackling climate change, food price surges and development,
all key agenda items at the summit.

Japanese, in particular, have a special role to play over climate
change, he said, noting that the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international pact
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, was adopted in Japan.

Ban said he himself will issue a symbolic political message for the
fight against global warming in his speech to be delivered at Kyoto
University on Sunday.

On food issues, Ban said that developed nations need to work hard
to help reduce policy measures that could distort trade, such as food export
bans. Developed countries will also be required to substantially increase
development aid for emerging countries, he said.

The Japan visit is the first for Ban since he became
secretary-general of the United Nations in January 2007.

He is slated to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura in Tokyo on Monday to exchange
views on global warming and the global food crisis.

Ban will then travel to China and South Korea, and fly back to
Japan on July 7, the opening day of the three-day G-8 summit, to visit the
summit site in Hokkaido.

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