Time is running out for Japanese diplomacy — and possibly for the future of the Earth, too.

A three-day meeting of 16 major green house gas emitting countries will start Friday in Seoul, the last major session before July's Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido, where climate change from global warming will be the key issue among participants.

As the chair of this year's G8 summit, Japan is struggling to form any meaningful consensus among participants in the outreach meeting, which includes the G8 countries as well as Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.