FACTBOX - Quotes After G8 and Major Economies Climate Talks
Date: 10-Jul-08
Country: JAPAN
Following is a selection of quotes following a meeting of 16 of the world's top carbon polluters after the G8 said it would work with all nations towards a global goal of halving emissions by mid-century. The 16 held a separate Major Economies Meeting in northern Japan on the last day of a G8 summit. The grouping comprises the G8, plus big developing nations such as China, India and Brazil as well as Australia, the world's top coal exporter.
JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YASUO FUKUDA:
"An expression of strong political will from 16 leaders -- this will surely be a strong force to push UN negotiations forward," Fukuda told a news conference.
"We would like to exert leadership along with other G8 countries so that emerging countries such as China and India also share the long-term goal and adopt it in UN negotiations," he said, referring to UN-led talks that seek to agree a broader pact to fight climate change by the end of 2009 at Copenhagen.
US PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:
"We made progress, significant progress toward a comprehensive approach," Bush said about climate change as he left Japan at the end of the G8 summit.
"I firmly believe that we can become less dependent on oil through new technology."
AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD:
Rudd told reporters the G8's 2050 emissions reduction goal was a step forward.
"Of course, there's a long, long way to go. And part of that distance refers to the gap between developed and developing nations on targets and on national commitments by developing countries and on the technologies necessary to fulfil those targets and commitments."
CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO:
"Developed countries should strictly abide by the emissions reduction goals set by the Kyoto Protocol, and should also truly carry out their commitments to provide developing countries with funding and technology transfers. Developing countries must, within a framework of sustainable development, actively adopt policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change," state media quoted him as saying in a speech in Japan.
INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH:
Singh told leaders at the Major Economies Meeting that India must work to help its poor and could not even consider quantitative restrictions on emissions.
"The imperative for our accelerated growth is even more urgent when we consider the disproportionate impact of climate change on us as a developing country."
MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER:
"You can say it's a problem, a challenge or a reality of the international political landscape that we have that these talks have to sometimes work on the lowest common denominator. And the lowest common denominator in the G8 is the United States," he told reporters.
KUNIYUKI NISHIMURA, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, MITSUBISHI RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TOKYO:
"Compared to last year's summit, the G8 went a bit further and as host country, Japan's face was saved. But as for how to involve the developing countries or how developed countries will set their own targets, it was pretty much as expected."
"The G8 meeting said formally that they must set ambitious national mid-term targets so this will speed up the discussions."
MIKIKO KAINUMA, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IN JAPAN:
"A G8 statement setting a global target for 2050 was never going to have any meaning because there was no way the eight countries would have been able to reduce global emissions all by themselves," Kainuma, leader of the climate policy assessment project at the Japanese think-tank, said.
"So this year's statement is a step forward from last year's wording.
(Editing by David Fogarty)
