TOYAKO, Japan, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Many observers are pessimistic about the outcome of discussions on climate change at the ongoing Group of Eight (G8) summit as the member countries still remain poles apart on the issue.
GLOBAL WARMING RISKS
Climate change and global warming caused by excessive greenhouse gas emissions have posed a grave risk to life on earth in recent years.
Scientists say climate change has possibly partly contributed to the recurrent natural disasters in recent years such as tropical storm Erin, which hit the United States in 2007, the heatwave in southern and central Europe in 2007, and the severe cyclone which killed as many as 70,000 Myanmarese in early May.
Global warming is changing world ecosystems and affecting the continuation of complex life, in particular causing sea levels to rise and the destruction of eco-diversity, scientists say.
According to UN predictions, global temperatures will go up by 2-4 Celsius degrees by 2080, and more than 1.1 to 3.2 billion people will suffer from the scarcity of drinking water while another 200 to 600 million will face starvation.
Further, about 200 million to 700 million people living in coastal regions are expected to suffer from floods and other disasters.
STILL TOUGH GOING FOR NEGOTIATIONS
Although the international community has reached consensus on the importance of fighting climate change, negotiations on the issue have been tough.
Developing countries maintain that developed countries, which have stayed ahead of the rest of the world in industrialization for more than a century, should take the lead in "helping our planet cool down."
Developing countries lay emphasis on common but differentiated responsibilities, while developed countries ask the developing world to undertake more obligations.
Even developed countries themselves maintain different stances on the issue.
The European Union (EU), which has agreed to cut emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels, wants big polluters such as the United States to agree to halve emissions by2050.
But the United States has refused to set a quantified target for emission cuts, arguing environmental protection should not be achieved at the expense of economic growth.
According to the roadmap adopted at the UN climate conference in Indonesia's Bali last December, negotiations on climate change should be carried out within two years and a new draft should be ready for approval at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
But two subsequent rounds of negotiations in Bangkok and Bonn failed to achieve concrete results, and the climate change conferences in Hawaii, Paris and Seoul earlier this year were also unable to create much headway.
OUTCOME IN DOUBT
It is hoped that the G8 summit will play a constructive and fundamental role in solving the climate change issue, which leaders of several big powers have vowed to do.
Following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Sunday, U.S. President George W. Bush said "I'll be constructive (on dealing with climate change). I've always advocated that there needs to be a common understanding and that starts with a goal."
A meeting of 16 major greenhouse gas emitters -- the G8 members and eight other countries -- will be held Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit to discuss climate change.
But the possibility of a breakthrough on the climate change issue at the meeting remains in doubt.
If G8 leaders do hope to make progress in the fight against climate change at the summit, they should first abide by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) adopted in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Bali road map adopted in 2007, observers say.
