EU, greens urge Bush to back 2050 emissions target

Leaders from China, India, Brazil, Australia and other big carbon polluters will also meet G8 members during a separate gathering of what is known as the Major Economies Meeting.

An EU source said on Monday Group of Eight countries had made progress on climate issues, including emissions targets. So far we have seen progress, difficult progress but progress, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. This year’s G8 meeting would be considered a failure by Brussels if there was no agreement to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2050, the EU source said, adding that there was already common ground on other issues.

These included the use of market mechanisms, including emissions trading as the way to go and I think that is quite useful and it has been signed up by all the G8 members, he said.

Earlier on Monday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the meeting would be a success if there was agreement on a clear-cut 50 percent reduction by 2050 and agreement on the principle of a mid-term (target). If we agree among ourselves (in the G8), then we are in a much better position for discussions with our Chinese partners and others, Barroso said.

China and India, whose rapidly growing economies produce about a quarter of mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions, have refused to commit to fixed targets to curb emissions unless rich nations, and particularly the United States, do so. Developing nations also want more financial aid and transfer of clean energy technology and a commitment from rich nations to a mid-term target to cut emissions. The G8 emits about 40 percent of mankind’s greenhouse gas pollution, about half of that alone coming from the United States.

President George W. Bush has refused to back any fixed numerical targets to cut emissions unless developing nations agree to binding commitments to curb their carbon pollution. Green groups have low expectations of an about-face from the Bush administration at this year’s G8 and say the bloc hasn’t made progress in fighting climate change over the past year.

A top Bush official wouldn’t say if a 2050 target would be in the final G8 text. We have indicated already that we will give serious consideration to 50 by 50, James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, told reporters at the G8. We have been pushing hard, and we think we’ve made good progress, so hopefully the declaration will reflect this, on the need for common systems of measurement, he said.

Meanwhile, the G8 powers told African leaders on Monday that they would call for more sanctions against Zimbabwe unless quick progress was made to deal with a presidential election the West sees as illegitimate, a senior Canadian official said. There was a statement by G8 leaders, including the prime minister (of Canada), that unless progress were made on this very quickly, increased sanctions would be called for, the official told reporters.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was declared reelected after a run-off in June in which he was the only candidate after the opposition candidate withdrew.