"As part of President George W. Bush's continued international energy security and climate change initiative, the world's major economies plus the United Nations, have been invited to join the United States in Honolulu, Hawaii for the second Major Economies Meeting," said a statement from the White House's Council on Environmental Quality.

    The two-day event, it said, is expected to "further the shared objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy security and efficiency, and sustaining economic growth, and will help to advance the negotiations under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change."

    The invitees include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union (Current EU President Slovenia and European Commission), France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United Nations.

    The meeting will serve as a follow-up for a first round of climate change talks among major economies in September last year in Washington.

    The idea of bring world's major economies for climate change talks was initiated by Bush in June 2007, when the United States is under growing pressure to contribute more to solving the problem of greenhouse-gas emissions.

    Ted Liu, director of the Hawaii state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said the meeting will be closed to the general public.

    Hawaii's Sierra Club Director Jeff Mikulina, who has been active in global-warming issues, said, "Hawaii would be a great place to showcase climate change, because we are the epicenter for research in climate change and one of the most vulnerable states in the nation."     (Jan.17)

Eidtor: Xu Hui