Bush says China, India need to come on board for global greenhouse gas reduction

The Associated Press
Published: July 7, 2008

TOYAKO, Japan: U.S. President George W. Bush said Asian giants China and India must sign on to measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve a global agreement to combat climate change.
Global warming, along with soaring gas prices and African aid, will be among the topics discussed at the Group of Eight summit that kicks off later Monday in northern Japan. G-8 leaders face major differences over how far to go in trying to set limits on pollutants that contribute to climate change.
The host of this year's G-8 summit, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, and other leaders would like to see the top industrialized nations and other fast-growing economies such as China and India pledge a 50 percent cut by 2050 in the emissions that contribute to global warming.
The Bush administration has not shown any enthusiasm for such a commitment without cooperation from the Chinese and Indians.
"I've always advocated that there needs to be a common understanding and that starts with a goal. And I also am realistic enough to tell you that if China and India don't share that same aspiration, that we're not going to solve the problem," Bush said at a pre-summit news conference Sunday with Fukuda.

Climate scientists have urged rich countries to reduce emissions by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of warming. Scientists say warming weather will lead to widespread drought, floods, higher sea levels and worsening storms.
Even a 3.6-degree-Fahrenheit (2-degree-Celsius) temperature rise could subject up to 2 billion people to water shortages by 2050 and threaten extinction for 20 percent to 30 percent of the world's species, according to a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of 2,000 scientists.
The leaders of the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Canada and Russia planned to start the meeting Monday at a remote mountaintop resort overlooking a lake formed by a volcanic crater on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The session ends Wednesday with a larger gathering that brings in eight additional countries — Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa.
Hundreds of protesters rallied under heavy police security Sunday. A demonstration by about 2,500 people on Saturday led to a brief clash with police; four people, including a television cameraman, were detained. Protesters have not been able to get near the summit venue, but have scheduled daily rallies about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north, in Sapporo, the largest nearby city.
Before the G-8 talks, Bush met with Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, who took office last month as ex-President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor. Putin still wields enormous influence at home as prime minister.
Bush called Medvedev a "smart guy" who understands the issues. But the U.S. president would not go so far as to say he got a sense of Medvedev's soul, as he once famously said of Putin after their first meeting.
"I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the guy," Bush said after his first sit-down with Medvedev since the Russian president took office. "He's comfortable and competent, and I believe when he tells me something, he means it."
The two leaders emphasized there were issues of agreement between their countries_ such as dealing with North Korea and Iran — but also areas of disagreement, such as U.S. plans for a European-based missile shield.
Russia has vehemently opposed U.S. plans to place missile defense sites in Europe saying it would threaten its security.
Medvedev, who referred to Bush informally as "George," said Bush's presidency isn't over and that he intends to intensify discussions with him. The new Russian leader said he would build upon U.S.-Russia relations with the next U.S. president, whomever that turns out to be.
Medvedev was also to hold separate talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the sidelines of the summit Monday.