Tokyo  - Environmental ministers from eight nations opened three days of talks in the western Japanese city of Kobe Saturday onmeasures to fight climate change.

Group of Eight (G-8) ministers were to discuss a target proposed by Japan to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a sector-based approach to developing a climate change plan for after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Japan also planned to encourage G-8 member states and emerging economies, such as China and India, to help developing nations achieve economic growth and tackle pollution and waste management through a "co-benefits approach."

The Kobe meeting on environmental issues, which comes ahead of the July G-8 summit in Japan's northern city of Toyako, involves ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, as well as China, India, Mexico and South Africa. (dpa)