Environment ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations ended their recent meeting in Kobe by expressing a "strong political will" to agree at the July G8 summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, to reach a long-term goal of at least halving global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

But the meeting, which was chaired by Japan's Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita, failed to agree on specific medium-range emission-reduction targets for 2020. Setting such targets is urgent because the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and a new climate agreement is to be hammered out by December 2009. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who will chair the Toyako summit, must exhibit strong leadership and come up with concrete proposals to ensure the summit's success.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February 2007 called on developed countries to commit themselves to reduction of between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020. But the chair's summary of the Kobe meeting only stated that to have global emissions peak and then decrease in the next 10 to 20 years, developed countries need to reduce their emissions by adopting and sticking to numerical targets.

Apparently with China and India in mind, the summary stated that it is important for developing countries whose emissions are growing rapidly to slow their rate of increase.

Because Japan failed to propose concrete reduction targets due to opposition from the industrial sector, the meeting did not result in the establishment of numerical medium-range targets. Mr. Kamoshita said if Japan wants to play a positive role, concrete targets should be agreed upon in future talks.

With little time remaining before the start of the G8 summit, Mr. Fukuda and the government must strive to free themselves from the shackles of domestic interests so that Japan can present specific numerical proposals to the international community in July.