G8+5 parliamentarians reach agreement on climate deal

www.carbon-financeonline.com/
02 July, 2008

Legislators from the G8+5 have bashed out the framework for a new climate change deal, including near-term emissions reduction targets. The agreement was presented to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, ahead of next week's G8 summit in Hokkaido, northern Japan. However, it is far from certain whether G8 leaders will match their parliamentarians' ambitions, with disagreements continuing between Europe, the US and Japan on committing to targets.

The group – comprising parliamentarians from the G8 plus the five developing economies of China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico – have agreed that developed countries should aim to reduce their emissions to 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 60-80% below 1990 emissions by 2050.

The agreement, reached in Tokyo earlier this week, is a positive step forward for the group, following its failure to reach accord at an earlier meeting in Brazil. "Ambitious absolute emission reductions for developed countries must form a central part of a post-2012 framework," says the text of the agreement. It also leaves it open for other "willing countries" to adopt targets.

The agreement also acknowledges that the 13 countries account for over 70% of current global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and calls on developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions and for developing countries to take action to control their GHG emissions. The group also agreed that the Clean Development Mechanism needs to remain in a new deal, but possibly strengthened, to encourage technology transfer to developing countries.

The text of the agreement can be found here. http://www.globeinternational.org/content.php?id=2:8:0:756:0.