EU and Japan shake hands on climate 

"Japan and the EU stress that a highly ambitious and binding international approach is required to deal with the scale and urgency of the climate change challenge of promoting a low carbon, high growth global economy," the two sides said in a joint press statement. 

No precise details on emissions reduction targets were mentioned in the statement, which also argues in favour of a "fair and flexible" approach to addressing climate change. But the two sides pledged to secure a "breakthrough" before the upcoming G8 summit, set to be held in Japan from 7 to 9 July. 

The EU and Japan have differed significantly in terms of their approach to reducing industrial CO2 emissions, blamed for an increase in global average temperatures.

Japan favours a 'bottom up' approach, whereby different emissions reduction targets are set for individual industry sectors according to their specific characteristics and circumstances.

The EU, on the other hand, is pushing for an economy-wide 'top down' approach, with CO2 emissions ceilings set at national and international level and emission rights traded between industries within a functioning carbon market similar to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).

"The bottom up approach proposed by Japan is useful to identify the technically possible mitigation potential based on aggregated sectoral reduction amounts [...] This is a constructive contribution to setting cost-efficient, fair and equitable targets," reads the joint statement, endorsed by EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Barroso and Fukuda also pledged better progress and cooperation in the area of energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon technology financing. 

In addition to promising greater cooperation in the fields of trade, economic development and international security, the leaders expressed "strong concern" about rising commodity prices - and "in particular, prices of food and oil, which could slow down the growth in global economy and have negative effects on developed and developing countries," the statement said.

There is an "urgent need to address the issue," it added.

Food prices have risen dramatically in recent months, sparking food riots in numerous countries. The issue was debated by MEPs in Strasbourg on 22 April (EurActiv 23/04/08).