G8 must forge concrete climate change plan: Annan

Beijing, June 5: Leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations should formulate a concrete plan to tackle climate change at their summit this week, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today. ''Propelled by growing scientific evidence, the debate on climate change has risen from technocratic lowlands to the heights of presidential summits,'' Annan told the annual meeting of conservation group WWF in Beijing.

''The urgency with which political leaders are grasping this issue is not misplaced. It is essential that the meeting of the G8 plus 5 in Germany this week succeeds in forging a common agreement to advance a global climate strategy,'' he added.

Annan urged rich countries at 189-nation talks in Nairobi last November to be more ''courageous'' in cutting greenhouse gases and urged Washington to reconsider opposition to the UN's Kyoto Protocol that binds 35 nations to cut emissions by 2012.

''The time for recriminations and passing the buck is over.

International discussions on action to curb climate change need to be put back on track, with clarity on what is to be done, when, and by whom,'' Annan added.

He said it was important to get developing giants China, India and Brazil on board in the battle to curb emissions, but that they needed help from the richer world.

Kyoto excludes developing nations from targets for 2012.

''Without their commitment, motivated by substantial transfers of capital and technology, effective and fair global action will remain out of reach,'' Annan said.

REUTERS

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