The international community should strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent from current levels by 2050, the head of Britain's Office of Science and Technology said Tuesday.
During a lecture Tuesday at the British Embassy in Tokyo, Sir David King, chief scientific adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology, said greenhouse gas emissions in his country have already been reduced by around 12 percent from the 1990 level. Britain hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent of the current level by 2050.
King is in Japan to attend the Joint Commission on Science and Technology, which is attended by officials and scientists of Japan and Britain. Participants are discussing collaborating to form measures on climate change.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol compels industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.
King said countries should take such measures as increasing energy efficiency and promoting use of renewable energy to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.