G-8 to launch public-private green tech fund for poor nations: draft+

TOKYO, June 28 Kyodo -
Group of Eight leaders meeting July 8-10 in L'Aquila, Italy, will agree to
launch a public-private green technology fund for developing countries as part
of efforts to curb global warming, according to a draft of a post-summit
declaration.

The leaders will urge major emerging economies such as China and India to adopt
actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ''in an indicative range below
business as usual,'' where countries employ few measures to cut emissions, by a
specified year, says the draft declaration, a copy of which was obtained Sunday
by Kyodo News.
''We reconfirm our strong commitment to the UNFCCC (U.N. Framework Convention
on Climate Change) negotiations and to the successful conclusion of a global,
wide-ranging and ambitious post-2012 agreement in Copenhagen, involving all
countries, developed, emerging and developing, consistently with the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,''
the undated draft states.
The draft says the G-8 leaders will urge ''all major economies'' to share the
goal of halving emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases by
2050, repeating similar language to that used in the G-8 leaders' statement
issued at last year's summit in Hokkaido, Japan.
Similarly, the draft makes no reference to numerical emissions reduction
targets for developed countries for 2020, a move that would spark criticism
from developing countries and environmentalists that rich countries are not
doing enough to lead global efforts to address climate change.
The draft also fails to spell out specifics on an envisaged ''Public-Private
Technology Program'' to co-fund investments in green technologies in developing
countries, such as the size of the program, the timing of its launch and its
financial resources.
Emissions reduction targets for industrial countries for 2020 and mitigation
actions by emerging economies are a major focus of U.N. negotiations for a
successor to the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The
talks are scheduled to conclude at a key U.N. climate change conference in
Copenhagen in December.
''We will take the lead in accelerating the transition towards green and
sustainable growth, including the creation of new jobs,'' the draft says. ''The
costs of inaction (to cope with global warming) far outweigh the costs of
moving towards low-carbon societies.''
On June 10, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Japan will slash emissions by 15
percent from 2005 levels by 2020, or an 8 percent cut from 1990 levels, a
target that environmentalists argue is not ambitious enough to lead the fight
against climate change.
Aso said Japan's 2020 reduction target is deeper than those of the European
Union and the United States. The 27-nation EU is aiming to slash emissions by
20 percent from 1990 levels, or 13 percent from 2005 levels. U.S. President
Barack Obama has pledged to bring U.S. emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020,
effectively meaning Washington will rein in emissions by about 14 percent from
2005 levels by 2020.
Japanese officials argue that Japan's actual emissions cuts will be larger than
Aso's target because it does not take into account reductions that can be
achieved through forest absorption of carbon dioxide and emissions trading.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
recommends that developed countries as a group reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, or by more than 30 percent from
2005 levels.
Along with climate change, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are expected to focus on the world
economy, development, food security and regional issues of common concern such
as Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea at the upcoming summit.
==Kyodo