China backs call for climate, food action

Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily  |   2008-7-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

President Hu Jintao yesterday shakes hands with a member of a Japanese earthquake rescue team in Sapporo, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Hu thanked the Japanese rescuers who searched for survivors of the devastating May 12 earthquake that hit southwest China's Sichuan Province. More in photo gallery

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THE leaders of five major developing countries yesterday called for the world's wealthy nations to do far more to battle climate change and tackle rising food prices before they lead to a spiral of poverty and instability.

The leaders of China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa said after a one-day summit in Japan that they expected the Group of Eight top industrialized nations to take the lead in global efforts to cut back emissions of greenhouse gases; and provide more aid to the developing world to help it cope with climate change.

The leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said it was "essential" for the developed world to spearhead the fight against climate change because they were major contributors to the problem and had the money to adopt major changes.

They called on the G8 countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 45 percent by 2012, compared with their 1990 levels, and by up to 95 percent by 2050.

That is far more ambitious than the G8 countries - the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy and Canada - have been willing to concede.

In a statement yesterday at its own summit, the G8 endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, but did not set a base year.

The five developing countries said they were the most vulnerable to natural calamities posed by global warming and would have more trouble adapting their economies to the changes needed to reduce gas emissions.

"For developing countries, adaptation is of cardinal importance, particularly given their vulnerability, limited capacity and inadequate means," they said in a joint statement after the day-long summit in Sapporo, just north of where the G8 leaders are meeting.

The two groups, along with Indonesia, South Korea and Australia, meet today to further discuss the issue.