G8 seeks to reduce carbon footprint

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 9 (UPI) -- World leaders have agreed to work together to greatly reduce carbon emissions by 2050, U.S. President Barack Obama said at the Group of Eight summit Thursday.

Speaking after the Major Economies Forum meeting at the summit in L'Aquila, Italy, Obama called climate change "one of the defining challenges of our time."

The G8 members -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia -- and other countries agreed to a target of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050 to try to keep the Earth's atmosphere from warming by more than 2 degrees Celsius, Obama said.

Participants in the forum also agreed to work toward an accord on greenhouse gas emissions, Obama said.

No nation was singularly responsible for causing global warming, just as no one nation could fight it, Obama said.

"Active participation (by all countries) is a prerequisite for a solution," he said.

Still to be developed are measurable, recordable and verifiable standards by which countries' efforts to reduce their carbon imprint could be reported, he said.

Leaders also agreed to provide financial support for developing countries to help them meet their emission-reduction goals.

And forum participants founded a global partnership to drive new clean-energy technologies, such as solar, smart grids and advanced vehicles.

"We've made a good start," Obama said, "but progress will not be easy," particularly because of the global recession.

"We can either shape our future or we can let events shape it for us," Obama said.