Work together for better future

World leaders have agreed to come together to fight challenges like climate change and emission, and stressed that uniting together for a greener Earth is the need of the hour.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit being held in Japan, leaders of major world economies said coming together of countries to combat challenges like climate change, food, security and green energy was necessary, and strived to work as per their capabilities and responsibilities for sustainable development.

The leaders also gave all-out support to a long-term cooperative action for emission reductions.

Welcoming the decision taken by the international community at Bali, the leaders agreed on enabling the full, effective, and sustained implementation of the Convention and reach an agreed outcome in December 2009.

Laying emphasis on the role of developing technology and technological breakthroughs in meeting the interlinked global challenges of energy security and climate change, the leaders agreed on cooperation in the field of technology and technology transfer to developing countries.

"For the longer term, research, development, demonstration, deployment, and transfer of innovative technologies will be crucial, and we acknowledge the need to enhance our investment and collaboration in these areas. Mindful of the important role of a range of alternative energy technologies, we recognize, in particular, the need for research, development, and large-scale demonstration of and cooperation on carbon capture and storage. We also note the value of technology roadmaps as tools to promote continuous investment and cooperation in clean energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment," a release said.

Following are the important points:

1. Climate change is one of the great global challenges and countries need to come together to commit to combat it.

2. Long-term cooperative action for emission reductions, ultimately aiming at achieving a low carbon society. To be done by increasing financing of the broad deployment of existing technologies and best practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate resilience.

3. Ability to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.

5. Enhanced greenhouse gas mitigation that is ambitious, realistic and achievable.

6. Developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions.

7. Adaptation is vital to addressing the effects of inevitable climate change and the adverse impacts of climate change are likely to affect developing countries disproportionately.

8. Technology and technological breakthroughs are critical in meeting the interlinked global challenges of energy security and climate change. Uptake and use of technologies like renewables, cleaner and low-carbon technologies and nuclear power will be beneficial.

9. Tackling climate change will require greater mobilization of financial resources, both domestically and internationally. There is an urgent need to scale up financial flows, particularly financial support to developing countries; to create positive incentives for actions; to finance the incremental costs of cleaner and low-carbon technologies; to make more efficient use of funds directed toward climate change; to realize the full potential of appropriate market mechanisms that can provide pricing signals and economic incentives to the private sector; to promote public sector investment; to create enabling environments that promote private investment that is commercially viable; to develop innovative approaches; and to lower costs by creating appropriate incentives for and reducing and eliminating obstacles to technology transfer relevant to both mitigation and adaptation.