G-20 to eye creation of low-carbon economy at April summit+

TOKYO, Jan. 26 Kyodo - Leaders of 20 major developed and emerging economies are expected during their summit in London on April 2 to ensure that their fiscal stimulus measures to address the global financial crisis will also lead to the creation of a low-carbon world economy, according to a senior British official.

The Group of 20 leaders are also expected to reaffirm their commitment to
advance trade liberalization to ward off protectionism, said Simon Fraser,
director general for Europe and Globalization at Britain's Foreign and
Commonwealth Office.
''We must make sure that the actions that we take in dealing with this crisis
help to equip us in the long-term for a low-carbon, more effective, cleaner
global economy going to the future,'' Fraser said in a recent interview with
Kyodo News in Tokyo.
Fraser was referring to a ''Green New Deal'' to address the financial crisis
and climate change simultaneously, a plan to spur green technology investment
and generate jobs advocated by U.S. President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon and other world leaders.
''If we are pumping money out now as governments, then let's make sure that
that money is going to be used in ways that promote long-term sustainable
growth,'' Fraser said, urging the G-20 to boost spending on environmentally
friendly initiatives such as energy efficiency and clean technologies.
Fraser suggested such policy coordination among the group -- which represents
about 90 percent of the world's gross domestic product -- will spark U.N.
negotiations for a new carbon-capping pact to be adopted at key U.N. climate
talks in Copenhagen in December. The new accord will succeed the Kyoto
Protocol, which expires in 2012.
At the London summit, the G-20 economies are expected to review fiscal and
monetary policy actions they have taken since the first summit last November in
Washington and to study whether they are adequate and effective in bolstering
the financial system and global growth, according to Fraser.
''We need to review the measures that have been taken, make sure that we are
coordinating them most effectively to deal with the consequences of the crisis
and make sure that the measures taken in one country do not damage the
interests of another country, for example,'' he said.
Fraser said the leaders are also likely to discuss measures to strengthen the
international financial system, such as an improved early warning system and
macro-financial surveillance by the International Monetary Fund to identify
risks in the global economy and enable governments to respond with better
coordinated action.
Meanwhile, Fraser said the world economy, climate change and development are
expected to top the agenda at the July summit of the Group of Eight major
nations in Italy.
Development issues include improvement of health, education and sanitation in
developing countries, while talks on climate change involve greenhouse gas
emissions reduction targets for developed nations and financial support for
poor countries to help them reduce emissions and adapt to the impact of global
warming such as rising sea levels, according to Fraser.
Fraser called for review of the role and composition of the G-8, saying it is
''unreasonable'' to expect a group that was created to meet the challenges of
the 1970s oil crisis to solve the challenges of the 21st century, given the
growing clout of emerging nations in the world economy.
''Many of us have acknowledged that the G-8 will need in some way to expand to
incorporate the most influential emerging economies, especially China and
India,'' he said. ''The path is inevitable, even if it brings with it risks in
diluting the like-mindedness of the group and its internal efficiency.''
The G-20 groups the G-8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia and the United States -- plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China,
India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and
the European Union.
==Kyodo
2009-01-26 21:27:04