Kobe, Japan - Japan is hoping for a long-term deal on targets for halving carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 at the upcoming G8 meeting in July, Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita said in Kobe Sunday.

Speaking at a meeting of G8 environment ministers, Kamoshita said he hoped "the target would present a shared vision among the countries participating in the G8 summit."

He also called upon China, the United States and other important CO2 producers to take part in the summit.

Japan, which currently holds the G8 presidency, believes that without the largest producers of CO2, a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol that runs out in 2012 would be ineffective.

Critics accuse Japan of trying to shift the blame for CO2 emissions onto developing countries with Tokyo's proposals for measuring CO2 reductions by industry sector.

The proposals call for all countries, including China and India, to agree to reductions in certain industries instead of setting national targets.

The proposal would only work if the industrialized countries first meet their own responsibilities by setting mid-term targets, according to the head of the German delegation in Kobe, Matthias Machnig.

Japan's approach could be an element of any future hierarchy of responsibility for reducing CO2 emissions, but it was "not a solution to the problem," Machnig said. (dpa)