Environment ministers meeting 2008
Prior to the Group of Eight (G8) Summit, an annual meeting attended by the leaders of the eight countries, the G8 Environment ministers meeting is held with the attendance of ministers of the G8 countries and the European Commissioner responsible for the environment to discuss environmental issues. Before the G8 Summit (Hokkaido Toyako Summit), which will be hosted by Japan in July 2008, a meeting of the G8 environment ministers will be held in Kobe from 24 - 26 May 2008.
At the Meeting in Kobe, there will be an exchange of opinions with the focus mainly on the three themes of climate change, biodiversity and the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Climate Change
Climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. At Heiligendamm Summit 2007, Japan’s proposal “Cool Earth 50” was introduced by the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. Consequently, the G8 leaders have agreed on “seriously considering at least a halving of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050”. We will further develop this agreement and aim to find effective measures to combat climate change with a focus on realizing a Low-Carbon Society, promoting Co-benefits Approach which integrates efforts to address pollution and climate change, and mainstreaming adaptation to climate change into development policies.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the basis of all living creatures and indispensable to the prosperity of mankind. There are high expectations for a ministerial-level discussion on conservation and sustainable use of the world’s biodiversity as heading toward the 10th COP to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Japan is proposing to host in 2010, which is also the “International Year of Biodiversity” and the target year of “2010 Biodiversity Target”.
3Rs
At the Sea Island Summit 2004, “3R Initiatives”, a proposal made by Junichiro Koizumi, then Prime Minister of Japan, was endorsed by the G8 leaders to build a sound material-cycle society by Reducing wastes and Reusing & Recycling resources. A further development of initiatives for these issues and other related matters will also be discussed.