Japan, which will host the Group of Eight summit in 2008, should be in a lead position to bridge differences among countries in attempts to reach a broad agreement on climate change, the top climate official at the United Nations said.
"I think that G8 presidency represents an important opportunity to reach agreement within the G8 on that long-term goal and to hopefully, also within the G8 framework, define the intermediate steps that need to be taken," Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a recent telephone interview from his office in Germany.
While progress was made at the last summit in Germany on the global fight against rising greenhouse gas emissions, the next gathering, in Hokkaido, will offer a platform for industrialized nations to further assist and support developing countries.
"I think that the Japanese presidency of the G8 can help to develop that concept and get a clearer understanding of what G8 countries are willing and able to do to help developing countries act on climate change," de Boer said.