Japan welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush’s proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bush share similar ideas about how to tackle global warming issue, Shiozaki said at a regular press conference in Tokyo. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aILvxFVfBSZQ&refer=japan
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he backs efforts, endorsed by U.S. President George W. Bush today, to convene a new round of talks to set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Bush, in a counter-offer to European leaders on climate change ahead of a meeting of world leaders in Germany next week, softened his past opposition to setting global targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. While Bush didn’t say what targets should be adopted, Harper said any accord must reflect the higher costs that fast-growing countries like Canada will bear. “We have to have some targets, but in the short-term there needs to be flexibility in targets and methods of reaching them,’’ Harper, 48, said in an interview in Ottawa today. “It really is important that all major emitters in the world do come together and have some targets.’’ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=acI8aPwzg4tE&refer=canada
Australia welcomed a U.S. proposal for 15 nations to agree on a global emission goal by next year, as an Australian report warned Friday against waiting for global agreement on climate change. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia had already pledged its support for U.S. President George W. Bush’s plan for the United States and 14 other major polluters, including Australia, to embrace greenhouse gas targets. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/01/asia/AS-GEN-Australia-US-Emissions.php