Japan’s New Leader Pledges Sharp Emissions Cut

TOKYO — Japan’s prime minister-elect breathed new life into efforts to curb global warming Monday, standing by a campaign pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in the next 10 years from 1990 levels — a target that environmentalists said puts Japan at the forefront of the fight against climate chang

“Climate change is already upon us, and its effects are amplifying,” Mr. Hatoyama told an environment conference in Tokyo. “Of course, Japan’s reduction targets alone cannot stop climate change. We will seek to build an international framework that involves all major countries and is fair and realistic.”

He also said “the condition for Japan’s promise to international society is that all major countries agree to ambitious targets.”

UN seeks signatures for action against climate change

NAIROBI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The UN is calling for millions of online signatures for a climate petition and launching the first-ever Global Climate Week as part of its "Seal the Deal!" campaign, 100 days ahead of a crucial UN climate change summit in Copenhagen (COP 15) in December.

A statement from the Nairobi-based UN Information Center (UNIC) said on Friday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is leading the call for communities around the world to take advantage of Global Climate Week from September 21-25 to encourage leaders to seal a fair, balanced and effective agreement on climate change.

"A scientifically-credible deal in Copenhagen can catalyze a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy which is so essential on a planet of six billion people, rising to over nine billion by 2050," said Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"As such, it will represent perhaps the biggest and most far reaching stimulus package of 2009 and beyond," he said.

Udall, McCain: Nuclear power must be part of solution to global warming

ESTES PARK — Bipartisan political leaders strolled through Rocky Mountain National Park this morning studying beetle-kill trees and changing vegetation patterns — and agreed that nuclear power must be part of any comprehensive climate-change legislation.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona are holding a formal hearing in Estes Park today concerning global warming and its impact on national parks.

McCain called on President Barack Obama to come forward with a climate-change proposal to get the discussion started in Congress.

McCain said he would not support legislation without a nuclear component.

"I agree with Sen. McCain that nuclear power has to be part of the mix," Udall said. "It's clear that if we want to respond to climate change, nuclear energy has to be part of the solution."

McCain and Udall weren't in the park long, but Ben Bobowski, chief of resource stewardship for the park, made sure they saw the impact beetles are having on lodgepole pines. The two also viewed willow trees, which are vulnerable to changes in their environment.