G-8 OKs Plan to Halve Global Emissions by 2050

In their meeting in Toyako, Japan, leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the United States resumed discussion of global emissions goals that were the focus of last year's G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

European Commission President Jose Barroso praised the agreement, calling it "a strong signal to citizens around the world," according to the New York Times.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the target was "a significant step forward from Heiligendamm."

"This means that the international community will no longer get off the hook," she said, according to Thompson Financial News.

During last year's summit, the 2050 target was discussed and "seriously considered," but never negotiated.

Environmentalists, however, are disappointed with the group's agreement. Phil Clapp of the Pew Environmental group, an organization monitoring the summit talks, said the goals were actually quite weak, the New York Times reported.

"The science shows that we have to reduce 80 to 90 percent from current levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change," Clapp said.

Pembina Institute policy analyst Clare Demerse called the agreement "a baby step" at best, according to the Toronto Star.

"The world was looking for leadership from these countries and was hoping to see a breakthrough," she said. "But we saw a real lack of leadership."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was optimistic but agreed that "there's a still a lot of difficult things to do," the Toronto Star reported.

President Bush celebrated his own achievement in involving the world's highest emitters of harmful gases into the conversation on climate change. The group meets with the "Outreach Five" leaders of developing nations -- including India and China -- Wednesday to continue talks.

Both China and India refused to commit to emissions targets "until G-8 countries lead the way," according to the Ottawa Citizen.

While the 2050 target was established in Tuesday's meeting, more specific and shorter-term goals will be worked out in the coming days and months leading up to a binding international treaty to be developed in Copenhagen in 2009.

"The G-8 will implement aggressive midterm total emission reduction targets on a country-by-country basis," Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the summit's host, told the Associated Press.