G8 to invest $10 bn to fight global warming

TOKYO: The Group-of-Eight industrialised nations will jointly invest more than USD 10 billion a year on research and development of technology to combat global warming, a report said today.

The plan, including research on underground storage of carbon dioxides, is included in a draft joint statement on economic policy to be adopted at the G8 summit scheduled for July 7-9 in Japan, the business daily Nikkei said.

Climate change will dominate the summit which will bring together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States to the northern Japan lakeside resort of Toyako.

The Nikkei said it had obtained the outline of the draft statement. According to the draft, the G8 leaders will also seek an agreement on setting country-by-country goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the medium term from 2013, the daily said.

They will also express their determination to avert a global economic crisis through coordinated efforts to deal with the impact of soaring oil and food prices, it added.

On July 9, the Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change (MEM), a 16-nation forum including China and India, will be held on the sidelines of the G8 summit and issue a separate statement, the daily said.

The draft of the G8 economic statement points to the importance of imposing a long-term goal for cutting global emissions.

But, because Japan and Europe differ with the United States over long-term numerical targets, a final decision on the question may be left to the G8 leaders when they meet at Toyako, the daily said.