At the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to 16, participants called for a fresh paradigm for dialogue to tackle mounting global risks, particularly climate change that threatens the global environment. They said global risks have reached a point where the advanced countries cannot deal with them by themselves.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he is committed to creating a "low-carbon" society and is seeking an agreement on a framework to achieve that goal at the Group of Eight summit in the Lake Toya resort area of Hokkaido on July 7 to 9.

Asking countries in different stages of economic development to adopt uniform regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions is one thing, but Japan needs to take the lead in promoting innovative environmental and energy technology, using the advanced technological know-how it has accumulated.