G8 agrees climate change deal to halve emissions

The leaders of the G8 made a breakthrough on climate change when they agreed to adopt a goal of at least halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to a draft communique. The communique also said mid-term goals would be needed to hit the shared target for 2050, but that it would be up to individual countries to adopt them.

Last year the G8 only agreed to "seriously consider" a cut of 50% by 2050. The signing of the statement means that attention now shifts to the UN-led climate change talks that are set to conclude in Copenhagen in December 2009. These talks are due to set a framework for a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol when it expires in 2012.

The carefully crafted statement is designed to bridge the differences between the Americans on the one hand and the EU and Japan on the other. The EU's executive welcomed the deal on climate change, saying it represented a "new, shared vision" and kept negotiations on track for a global deal in 2009. "This is a strong signal to citizens around the world," the European commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said today, adding that the EU's benchmark for success at the G8 summit in northern Japan had been achieved.

"I am very happy. A new, shared vision by the major economies in the climate challenge within the UN framework has emerged. The science is clear, the economic case for action is stronger than ever. Now we need to go the extra mile to secure an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen that will enable the world's nations to rise to the challenge together," he said.

But environmental campaigners said the G8 agreement did not go far enough. "At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G8 leaders will be long forgotten," said Antonio Hill, spokesperson for Oxfam International. "The G8's endorsement of a tepid '50 by 50' climate goal leaves us with a 50/50 chance of a climate meltdown."

Gordon Brown will be pleased with the deal since it keeps open talks ahead of the new US president taking over in January, leaving nearly a year for talks to reach a conclusion at the end of 2009. The Japanese prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, praised the deal, but added: "Needless to say, we cannot achieve the long-term goal without contributions from other major emitters." "At tomorrow's major economies' meeting, I would like to call for their cooperation," he said.

A major economies meeting, which brings the G8 together with big emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India, is set to take place tomorrow on the sidelines of the summit.

(By Patrick Wintour and Larry Elliott, The Guardian, 08/07/2008)