Japan proposes 50% emission cuts by 2050

TOKYO: Japan has called for the world to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, proposing a successor to the Kyoto Protocol it hopes will win over top offenders the United States and China.   

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, unveiling the proposal ahead of the Group of Eight summit in Germany, pledged to bring all nations onboard in the fight against global warming by making the initiative non-binding.   

Abe also called for Japan and other nations to direct foreign aid to help poor nations embrace eco-friendly technology including, in a potentially controversial point, nuclear power.   

"Now is the time we must act. Otherwise how could we hold ourselves accountable to our future generations?" Abe said, calling evidence of global warming irrefutable.   

"Japan will vigorously call on countries around the world to reach an international consensus on the long-term goal of halving emissions by 2050 and the steps for achieving it," Abe told an Asian forum in Tokyo.   

The Kyoto Protocol, the world's first treaty mandating emission cuts, expires in 2012.   

The United States and Australia have refused to take part in the treaty, arguing as it is unfair as it makes no demands of fast-growing emerging economies.   

In the latest initiative, all nations would commit in general terms to the broad goal of halving emissions by 2050 through technology and social change.