Brussels - The European Union remains committed to its goal of keeping global warming to within 2 degrees celsius of pre- industrialization levels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Monday. "We reiterate the need for a global goal to achieve at least a 50 percent reduction of global emissions by 2050," he said in Brussels, a day before leaders from the Group of Eight (G8), some of them sceptical, were to meet on the issue.
"This, in turn, means that developed countries must reduce emissions by at least 80 per cent in the same period."
Some countries, like Japan, Russia and Canada are not entirely on board with committing themselves to such long-term goals. However others, like the United States, have signalled willingness to do so.
One of the goals of the G8 conference is for leaders of the industrialized nations to present a united front on the matter in advance of a United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December.
Several developing countries have expressed unwillingness to comply with restraints on producing greenhouse gases, arguing that their economic development should not be crippled by preventing them from behaving the same way the industrialized countries did in the past.
"As the largest producer of past emissions, developed countries have a special responsibility to take the lead," Barroso said. "But this is not going to be enough. Emerging economies, where growth and development is surging, must also join the effort."
Turning to the ongoing financial crisis, Barroso said the global economy would probably continue to suffer throughout 2009. He said the key, once the crisis is past, will be to focus on financial stability in key industries, not continuing growth through accumulating more debt.
