Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,

Dear colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to get together with you at the picturesque lakeside of Toyako and exchange views with you on the issue of climate change.

With the fast growth of the world economy and industrialization in particular, global issues such as energy, the environment and climate change are becoming increasingly acute, posing a challenge to all countries. At the G8 Outreach Session held in Heiligendamm, Germany last year, we had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on climate change. Later, the United Nations Climate Change Conference adopted the Bali Road Map, which is an important milestone in the international endeavor to tackle climate change. Our meeting today represents both a fresh effort made by the international community to tackle climate change and an important move geared to translate the Bali Road Map into action. I hope the meeting will help facilitate exchanges and build consensus so as to inject new vitality into international cooperation on climate change.

Climate change is, in essence, an issue about development and should be addressed in a comprehensive way in the context of sustainable development. International cooperation on climate change should proceed from the need to achieve a sound balance among economic growth, social development and environmental protection. It should put economic growth at its core and take capacity building for sustainable development as its goal. It should focus on conserving energy, optimizing energy mix and strengthening eco-environmental protection, and make full use of technological advances. Cooperation in this way will constantly enhance the capacity of the international community to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

As countries represented at this meeting differ in terms of stage of development, level of scientific and technological development and national conditions, our endeavor to combat climate change should be guided by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. We believe efforts should be made in the following areas:

First, play an exemplary role in fulfilling the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC and its Protocol have established the framework, principles and goals for international cooperation on climate change. They reflect the differences in the level of economic development, historical responsibilities and per capita emissions among countries and set out the efforts that developed and developing countries should make respectively. Developed countries should make earnest efforts to attain the goal of emission reduction defined in the Protocol and take concrete measures to honor their commitments of providing funding and technology transfer to developing countries. Developing countries should adopt policy measures for mitigation and adaptation and make whatever contribution as they can to the fight against climate change in the context of sustainable development.

Second, actively advance international negotiations. This year and the next are crucial to the effort in implementing the Bali Road Map. The Road Map charts the course and sets the timetable for international discussions on a post-2012 international climate change arrangement. The international community should work together to ensure progress in international negotiations on climate change. In this process, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be observed. Developed countries should make explicit commitments to continue to take the lead in emissions reduction. The “dual-track” negotiations should be pushed forward in a balanced way and concluded on schedule, and equal attention should be given to the four aspects of mitigation, adaptation, technology and financing. The UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol should serve as the main channel for international negotiations and cooperation on climate change, with other initiatives and mechanisms as useful supplements. We should demonstrate the political will and show flexibility to ensure the success of the negotiations.