Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa said Wednesday he is ready to exercise leadership as Japan's negotiator at next week's international meeting in Copenhagen on climate change and to work to ensure China and the United States commit to setting new reduction targets from 2013.

Because of time constraints, Ozawa acknowledged that a legally binding text to set emission targets after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 was out of reach at the COP15 meeting. The widely held view is that the participating countries at the meeting, which starts Dec. 7, may agree on a comprehensive political agreement to set goals to work toward future legal documentation.

"It is meaningless if we come to a decision that lacks the participation of the U.S. and China," Ozawa said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, adding that he believes the two major emitters are willing to participate. "I really would like to succeed in reaching a political agreement, and make sure we reach the next stage before the COP meeting next year."