KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Japan's leader won Malaysia's backing Friday for his new initiative to halve global emissions by 2050, and called on the world's major polluters to join his plan and save the planet from the devastation of climate change.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe secured the support of Indonesia and India earlier this week during his three-nation tour for his "Cool Earth 50" initiative. Abe told reporters in Malaysia that the Group of Eight major industrialized countries also have agreed to give "serious consideration" to his proposal.
"I am advocating that by halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, we should create a situation where the temperature of the world does not rise any more," Abe said.
"To achieve that all major emitters must participate," he said referring to China, India and the U.S.
As part of the initiative, Japan may provide financial support and energy conservation technology to developing countries, Abe said.
His Cool Earth 50 initiative, announced in May, calls for an effective framework for addressing climate change beyond 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol ends. All countries would participate under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty with specific targets, requires the European Union and 35 other countries to cut emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. The United States is not a signatory.
On Friday, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi "highly appreciated" the initiative, said a joint statement issued after talks between him and Abe.
The two leaders also agreed it was important to promote sustainable forest management in Malaysia, to counter greenhouse gas emissions and to conserve the planet's biodiversity, the statement said.
Abdullah urged more Japanese involvement in Malaysia's southern and northern regions, which are being developed as new investment hubs. The two countries reached a free trade pact in July last year, resulting in Japanese investment in Malaysia increasing by about five times.
Abe dismissed suggestions that his tour to woo India was an effort to counter China's dominance of the region.
"A China that grows economically is not regarded as a threat. A China that grows for Japan, for this region, for this entire world in fact represents an opportunity and we are sure that China will take on a responsible role in the region," he said. (**)
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