Tokyo  -  Trade associations from the seven leading industrialized nations and Russia, otherwise known as the Group of Eight (G8) are due to meet Thursday in Tokyo to discuss climate change.

The meeting was about further expanding the current levels of cooperation between countries, industry and science, Federation of German Industries (BDI) president Juergen Thumann said on Wednesday.

It was also about improving competitiveness by technological innovation, Thumann said.

It was therefore necessary to develop renewable energies further and to make them more efficient, he said.

"We must tackle the enormous challenges," Thumann said.

The BDI initiated a meeting of the trade associations of the G8 nations ahead of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in Germany last year.

The aim was to further the dialogue in order to make the meeting an integral part of the G8 process, Thumann said.

Last year in Heiligendamm, the trade associations issued a joint statement, calling on policy-makers to ensure that efforts to combat climate change should be reconciled with growing global demands for energy. (dpa)