Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will propose global steps aimed at halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from current levels during next month's Group of Eight summit, and has already gotten U.S. President George W. Bush's promise to cooperate, sources said Tuesday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Given the cooperation between Japan and the U.S., the G8 summit is likely to see progress in its discussions on creating a new international framework to fight global warming beyond the 2012 time frame set under the Kyoto Protocol.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The sources, who are well versed in Japanese-U.S. relations, said Abe told Bush in their talks last month that Japan is set to unveil the proposal soon, and Bush agreed to cooperate closely in the course of Japan hosting the G8 summit next year, saying 'Fair enough.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Tokyo wants the G8 to reach a consensus at this year's summit to compile a post-Kyoto action plan in 2008 when it plays host at the Lake Toya resort area in Hokkaido to the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the U.S., the sources said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Abe and Bush also agreed on the need to create an 'effective' international framework that includes China, India and other major emerging economies as key greenhouse gas emitters, with Bush saying the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum would make a favorable venue, the sources said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The planned proposal is similar to the reduction target demanded by the European Union ahead of this year's G8 summit to be hosted by Germany in Heiligendamm, where a post-Kyoto Protocol framework will top the agenda.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>European members of the G8 want the Heiligendamm summit to issue a statement calling for hefty cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions of around 50 percent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The U.S. and Japan were believed to have been reluctant to include such a target.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Host Germany's draft statement says, 'We are committed to taking strong and early action in order to contribute our fair share to limit global warming to 2 –

. . . this requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak within the next 10 to 15 years, followed by substantial reductions of around 50 percent by 2050 compared to 1990s levels."

According to the sources, Abe told Bush during their April 27 meeting in the U.S. that Japan's proposal will involve developing technologies, creating low-carbon societies and taking other steps to halve emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 2050.

Abe and Bush agreed that their countries can contribute to international efforts to fight global warming by employing energy-saving and other technological measures.

Tokyo has been working to beef up international efforts to fight global warming. During talks April 11 in Japan, Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to cooperate on creating an effective post-Kyoto Protocol framework from 2013.