G-8 sees climate deal

Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa joined an expanded G-8 summit on its second day, determined that their rich partners pay the lion's share of the bill for dragging the world economy out of its dramatic slowdown.

The five developing countries agreed with the big eight — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States — that they would oppose protectionism and move quicker towards a global trade deal.

But the emergent powers, formerly wary of shackling their growth potential through limiting their carbon emissions, also bowed to pressure from the G-8 industrialised democracies to agree climate change targets.

As late as last week, China and India stood opposed to ambitious reductions targets, arguing the rich world should lead the way in fighting climate change.

But according to a diplomat and a draft copy of a summit communique seen by AFP, the Major Economies Forum — the 16 countries that between them produce 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gases — has come to a deal on a target.

The G-8 countries, despite the reticence of Russia, had earlier agreed to cut their emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Now the emerging economies appear to have accepted the principle of limiting the rise in the Earth's average temperature to two degrees Celsius above its 18th-century level, before the industrial revolution.

Clear differences remain, however.

Brazil, for example, dismissed the G-8's distant 80 percent emissions reduction target as “not credible” without an earlier interim stage, echoing the position of Russia, which has dismissed the goal.

“We can't be satisfied with a single long-term objective without losing all credibility,” said Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figuereido Machado.

“We need strong and deep reduction goals for 2020.”

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