Environment: 'Sinners' meet

Environment ministers from the G8 and other major greenhouse gas emitters will meet for talks on emissions-reduction targets in Kobe from Saturday.

The sessions on climate change will discuss the possibility of setting a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. G8 leaders agreed seriously to consider the mid-century target at last year's summit in Germany, a proposal backed by Japan, the European Union and Canada. The meeting is one of a series leading up to the G8 leaders' summit to be held on the northern island of Hokkaido in July.

Given their economic might -- together they account for more than one-third of global economic activity -- their high-technology expertise, and past record of global standard-setting, the EU and Japan are among the natural leaders on climate change. Unlike the United States, both endorse the UN effort to establish by the end of 2009 an effective and comprehensive post-2012 climate change framework. They advocate a binding and highly ambitious international approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing financial support for developing countries. Together with Washington and others, they also back the new 'International Partnership for Cooperation on Energy Efficiency', an important topic for the G8.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is hoping for a popularity boost from the G8 summit, and has promised a cabinet reshuffle at about the same time. If popular support for the government and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) improves, the LDP might take a chance on an election immediately after the summit. The approach has been met by suspicion from the rest of the world, especially from emerging economies.