Sidestepping demands to set short or medium-term emission targets, the G8 summit in Japan agreed Tuesday to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.
Although the Group of Eight leaders' decision comes in line with their pledge last year to "seriously consider" the cuts, a deal was made possible only after considering resistance from the U.S. to set any interim targets for reducing emissions.
U.S. President George W Bush received assurances that the emission cuts would also involve developing countries with rapidly-rising emissions. He opposed the Kyoto Protocol because it did not include strict emissions limits for China and India.
In return, five of the world's biggest emerging economies - China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa - said the G8 should increase its targets to more than 80 percent by 2050.
Their leaders, who urged the developed countries to commit themselves to an interim target of a 25-40 percent cut below the 1990 levels by 2020, will join the G8 counterparts Wednesday to discuss about the merits of the deal, media reports said.
With the South African government already rejecting Tuesday's agreement, criticizing the lack of firm targets to achieve sufficient cuts in emissions, Wednesday's talks are crucial as far as the willingness of the G8 members to adopt the 50% figure is concerned.
The United States, Japan and Canada oppose targets of a 25-40 percent cut below the 1990 levels by the end of next decade.
Yasuo Fukuda, the Prime Minister of the summit's host nation, told a press conference that the cuts would be measured from the "current levels," despite an EU demand that the 50 percent cut would be measured from the 1990 levels of CO2, as agreed upon under the Kyoto climate protocol.
Meeting on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, G8 leaders said the binding measures would be brought into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will culminate in a meeting in Copenhagen at the end of the next year.
The leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia said in a statement that the goal for a definitive course of action must be compatible with "economic growth and energy security."
While the agreement was hailed by many leaders including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the summit's failure to set medium-term emission targets drew severe criticism from environmentalists.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for some "very hard negotiations on the way to Copenhagen."
Officials of environmental groups, including Greenpeace, WWF Global Climate Initiative, and Oxfam International, slammed the deal for not specifying targets for 2020 and postponing the problem to future generations.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.