Japan says giving 300-million-dollar climate loan to Indonesia

Toyako (ANTARA News) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday announced a loan to Indonesia of 300 million dollars in the first batch of aid under Tokyo's new initiative on fighting climate change.

Fukuda met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Japanese northern resort of Toyako on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit.

Fukuda "highly praised" Indonesia's leadership at a UN-led conference in Bali in December that set a deadline of the end of 2009 to reach a new climate change treaty, a Japanese foreign ministry statement was quoted by AFP as saying.

"The prime minister informed the president of Japan's decision to extend a loan of 300 million dollars, the first batch under the Cool Earth Partnership programme," it said.

The Japanese initiative aims to extend aid worth 10 billion dollars, mostly in low-interest loans, to the developing world to help the world meet a goal of
halving emissions blamed for global warming by 2050.

The G8 summit on Tuesday agreed that the world should at least halve emissions by 2050 and called for the developing world to follow suit.

But developing countries, meeting with the G8 in an extended summit Wednesday, called the rich nations' commitment too weak as it does not set clear targets for the 2010s, which scientists say will be a crucial period.  end (*)