• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Japan PM: Emissions-goal base year is current levels

TOYAKO, Japan
Tue Jul 8, 2008 2:57am EDT

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said on Tuesday the base year for a goal of at least halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 -- agreed on by Group of Eight leaders on Tuesday -- was "current levels".

World  |  Green Business

That would appear to be at odds with the position of the European Union and climate change activists, who insist that base year should be 1990.

Fukuda also said the G8 rich nations had agreed to set "ambitious midterm targets" for cutting their own emissions in order to achieve the long-term goal.

"To achieve an absolute reduction in emissions, G8 countries will each set ambitious midterm targets," Fukuda told reporters at the luxury hotel where the G8 leaders were holding their annual summit.

(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)



More from Reuters

Photo

Obama blames "systemic failures" in U.S. security

KANEOHE, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama Tuesday blamed a combination of "human and systemic failures" for allowing the botched Christmas Day attack aboard a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner, in his first big test on homeland security. | Video

Leaves gather in front of an empty and boarded-up house in Youngstown, Ohio November 21, 2009.    REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Castles built on sand

Rust-belt American cities like Youngstown, Ohio were battered by the downturn. Now they're ready to move on, but it won’t be easy. The first in a three-part report.  Full Article 

REUTERS/James Saft

Welcome to the "Teenies"

Shrinking financial sector? Paltry investment returns? Welcome to the the next decade. Don't worry, there's some good news, too.  Commentary