NAGO, Japan, June 15 (UPI) -- Science and technology ministers from the Group of Eight Sunday agreed at a meeting in Japan their countries and others should work together on global issues.
The ministers, who held a one-day conference in Okinawa, said they would promote cooperation among the G8 nations and developing countries on climate change issues, as well as on technological issues regarding sustainable development, the Kyodo news agency reported.
The agreement to work to advance lower carbon emissions and share improved technology with developing nations comes ahead of a G8 summit scheduled for next month in Hokkaido.
The representatives of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the European Union also agreed to push international cooperation in research and development resources through shared use of facilities, the Japanese news agency said. A follow-up meeting that also will include invitations to several other countries will be held in Washington this fall.
''I believe this will certainly lead to detailed and positive discussions at the Hokkaido Toyako summit where these major issues will be taken up,'' Japanese Science and Technology Minister Fumio Kishida said, referring to the G8 meeting set for July 7-9.
