U.S., Japan commit to fight climate change

TOKYO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama recommitted to reduce their countries' emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the White House said.

Obama and Hatoyama, meeting in Tokyo, issued a joint message about climate change negotiations and also recognized each country's achievements in attaining the shared goal, the statement said.

The two leaders also reaffirmed moving to low-carbon growth is key to the planet's health and would play a vital role in reviving the global economy.

"To this end, our countries aspire to reduce our own emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and endorse a global goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by that year," the statement said.

Obama and Hatoyama affirmed the intent of the United States and Japan to expand cooperative activities in technology research and development to provide solutions to the challenges of global energy security and climate change, the statement said.

Joint activities include establishing a task force to evaluate achievements of existing clean energy projects in Hawaii and Okinawa; deepening cooperation in the area of smart grid, and establishing cooperation efforts on carbon capture and storage, including modeling, testing and data sharing.