By Risa Maeda
TOKYO (Reuters) - Top transport officials from 21 major countries agreed on Friday to promote the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the sector to combat climate change, aiming to drive talks under a broader U.N. framework.
Shipping, airline and inland transport, which together contribute over 20 percent of mankind's CO2 emissions, will be a key part of a new U.N. climate pact that about 190 nations will try to agree on at the year-end as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
The officials, including ministers from the European Union, Australia and Russia, met in Tokyo for a three-day meeting that ended on Friday. Malaysia attended as an observer, while China, now believed to be the world's top greenhouse gas polluter, pulled out at the last minute.
"It is the first ministerial declaration ever and it was from major countries that account for about 70 percent of CO2 emissions from the global transport sector," said Japanese transport minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko, who chaired the meeting.
"It is quite important to send a message that we have the political will (to address the transport sector)," Kaneko told a news conference at the end of the gathering.
Despite concerns among many developing countries that efforts to fight climate change will undermine economic growth, the officials agreed they could seek a low-carbon, low-pollution future for the transport sector while ensuring sustainable growth.
The ministerial statement said the countries recognize the need for the transport sector to act on CO2 emissions and air pollutants, which would also result in energy savings as well as health and safety benefits.
Kaneko said it was disappointing that China, which had insisted that the ministerial statement exclude emissions cut measures for developing countries and that rich nations lead the charge in lowering emissions, did not attend, though he did not think it affected the value of the meeting.
Several delegates agreed.
"Now we've got political support for the U.N.-led measures (for testing fuel efficiency or measuring greenhouse gas emissions on inland transport)," Juan Antonio Ramos Garcia, secretary of the United Nation's World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, told Reuters.
Inland transport accounts for the biggest chunk of emissions from the overall transport sector, which is expected to grow further amid rising demand for cars, goods and travel in developing countries.
Airlines contribute about 2 percent of global CO2 emissions while shipping accounts for about 3 percent. Given the global nature of the aviation and shipping sectors, an international organization for each sector is also holding separate talks apart from the nation-based post-Kyoto discussions.
"This agreement guarantees both competitiveness and economic growth going together with protection of the environment," Antonio Tajani, vice president of the European Commission, told Reuters on the sidelines of the news conference.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)