Scientists urge G8+5 leaders to speed up low-carbon tech development

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TOKYO, June 11 Kyodo -
Scientists from the Group of Eight nations and five other states Thursday urged
the leaders of the countries to accelerate the development and introduction of
low carbon technologies to tackle global warming.
On Thursday afternoon, Ichiro Kanazawa, president of the Science Council of
Japan, presented a joint statement from science academies to Prime Minister
Taro Aso at his office in Tokyo.
The statement was issued by science academies of the G-8 countries -- Britain,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- and five
other states -- Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Mexico -- ahead of the
July 8-10 summit of the G-8 in L'Aquila, Italy.
This was the fifth such appeal to the G-8 summit by the academies since 2005.
The statement warns that ''climate change is happening even faster than
previously estimated'' and ''the need for urgent action to address climate
change is now indisputable.''
Against this backdrop, the statement called on the governments to ''collaborate
in the implementation of low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure and
technologies...through the use of economic and regulatory instruments, to
accelerate adoption of clear 'green' technologies.''
It also emphasizes the need for a rapidly increased adoption of renewable
energy technologies such as wind, geothermal, solar energy, biofuels and wave
power.
''The development of standards and certification for the environmentally
sustainable implementation of these technologies is essential,'' the statement
said.
The statement was issued a day after Aso announced that Japan will try to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent from 2005 levels as its
post-Kyoto Protocol midterm target for 2020.
==Kyodo