TOYAKO, Japan, July 9 (UPI) -- World powers and emerging countries joined forces Wednesday in Japan to commit to long-range cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
The climate change declaration came one day after the Group of Eight pledged to halve emissions by 2050.
China, India and other developing countries would not commit to specific targets, with their representatives saying wealthy nations such as the United States must take more aggressive actions to cut emissions during the next decade, The New York Times reported.
Observers called the meeting unprecedented because it brought together 16 countries and the European Union on the final day of the G8 summit, and helped lay the basis for a global climate treaty to be negotiated under the sponsorship of the United Nations, the Times said.
"In order to address climate change, all major economies must be at the table," said U.S. President George Bush, who organized the meeting.
Environmentalists said Wednesday's declaration did not go far enough.
"It is good that the developing countries have embraced the principal of a global target that they will participate in," Phillip Clapp, director of the Pew Environmental Group, told the Times. "It would have been better if the United States and the other G8 countries would have been willing to step up to the plate and make a strong commitment about what they would do over the next 10 years. "
