Japan vows to work with U.N. on climate, Africa, food crisis

TOKYO, July 1 Kyodo - Japan pledged Monday to work with the United Nations in tackling the issues of climate change, African development and surging food prices, as Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met in
Tokyo.

''Climate change and the environment, African development, and the surge in
food prices are challenges faced by the entire international community,''
Komura said at the outset of the talks. ''The Japanese government would like to
cooperate with your excellency in addressing these issues.''

The talks came before Ban, in Japan on the first leg of a two-week Asian tour,
met Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in the evening, during which the premier
expressed Japan's readiness to send Self-Defense Forces personnel to Sudan to
participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations in the country.

In response to Komura, Ban said, ''My visit takes place at a very important
period as you (Japan) are taking great initiative as president of the G-8
summit in Toyako.''

Ban also said he was ''pleased'' that Japan has taken up for the agenda of the
summit the issues of climate change, the global food crisis and the eight-point
Millennium Development Goals, which are also a top priority for the United
Nations.

On U.N. affairs, Komura expressed hope that Ban will exercise his leadership to
press forward U.N. Security Council reform, and to support the hiring of more
Japanese staff at the United Nations, where Japan's presence remains low
relative to its financial contribution.

The secretary general said he understood Japan's strong hope for a permanent
seat on the Security Council and that he will do his best to ensure smooth
discussions among U.N. member nations on the issue of reform, a Japanese
Foreign Ministry official said.

There are currently 108 Japanese employees in the U.N. Secretariat, well below
the U.N.'s ''desirable range'' of 241 to 326, the official said.

Ban and Komura also discussed regional issues including North Korea's nuclear
moves, Myanmar's political process, Zimbabwe's election chaos as well as
Afghanistan and Sudan, the official said.

The world body has asked Japan to join the 10,000-member U.N. mission in Sudan,
where personnel from more than 70 countries have been monitoring compliance
with a 2005 cease-fire agreement between the Sudanese government and
antigovernment rebels.

In the morning, Ban had an audience with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
According to the Imperial Household Agency, Ban expressed gratitude for Japan's
contribution to the United Nations and told the imperial couple that natural
disasters, climate change, the food crisis and the surge in fuel prices are the
four top priority issues faced by the United Nations.

The emperor was quoted as saying in response that it is important for the
general public to be fully aware of climate change.

In a speech at a town meeting on global warming in Kyoto on Sunday, Ban called
on Japan to set a ''far-reaching'' medium-term target for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions in order to take a leading role in the fight against
global warming.
The secretary general is scheduled to leave Japan on Tuesday for China and
South Korea, before returning again to Japan to attend the G-8 summit at the
Lake Toya resort in Hokkaido.
==Kyodo