TWO WORDS
"It will not be good, it will not be enough if the G8 countries just decide to reduce by 50 percent in 2050. They must state 'at least', and they must say something that urges them to action before 2050," Kim Carstensen of global environment group WWF told reporters in Hokkaido.
"We should definitely look for wording around a midterm target. A midterm target would be in 2020, which should be in a range of 25-40 percent reductions for industrialized countries," said Carstensen, director of WWF's Global Climate Initiative, referring to the U.N. climate panel's goal for rich nations.
Barroso was doubtful a numerical target for 2020 would be set.
"But I hope we can reach agreement on the need to have a midterm target," he said.
The Major Economies Meeting group last month backed the need for a long-term global goal for reducing emissions and for major developed economies to set their own midterm goals.
"Just committing to 50 percent by 2050 would be a false answer. If there is no 'at least' in there it means the governments commit themselves to not doing enough," Daniel Mittler of Greenpeace told reporters in Hokkaido.
"Bush continues to be backwards and is in fact insulting the world by saying China and India need to act first before we in the United States are willing a make a further small step," he added.
A top Bush official wouldn't say if a target of 2050 would be in the final G8 text.
"We have indicated already that we will give serious consideration to 50 by 50," James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, told reporters at the G8.
"We have been pushing hard, and we think we've made good progress, so hopefully the declaration will reflect this, on the need for common systems of measurement," he said.
"We need to understand that a tonne reduced in China is the same tonne as a tonne reduced in Japan as a tonne reduced in America, and right now in a number of areas we don't have that confidence," he said.
