Japan's Marukawa Meets with China Minister, U.N. Chief in Paris

Paris, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa held meetings with Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for global warming, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris on Sunday on the sidelines of a key climate change conference sponsored by the United Nations. Marukawa and Xie confirmed that countries should review their targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions every five years, the Japanese minister told reporters after the meetings. Such a review will likely be included in the text of agreement at the ongoing 21st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP21, in the French capital, in which participants are discussing a new international framework on emissions cuts for the period from 2020. Marukawa told reporters, "I was able to confirm that China, too, has a strong will to aim for an agreement on the new global framework for combating climate change." Still, Xie repeated China's stance that developed nations should shoulder a heavier burden in the implementation of measures to fight global warming, saying that attention should be paid to the reality facing developing countries, according to Marukawa. Meanwhile, Ban expressed his gratitude for Japan's efforts to curb global warming. Ban told Marukawa that he wants Japan to play the role of mediator between conflicting parties at a COP21 ministerial session, set to kick off soon. END