Japan and the United States are considering convening a leaders' summit of major carbon emitters and a U.S.-led meeting of major emitters ahead of the Group of Eight summit next July in Japan, according to government sources.

Holding the two meetings concurrently in Japan, the two countries plan to take the lead in building a long-term global goal of "halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050" as a "joint conclusion" of the U.S.-led talks and the G-8 summit, the sources said.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and U.S. President George W. Bush have agreed to this bilateral initiative, and the two nations have begun working-level talks on a plan to hold the "Environment and Energy Summit" of G-8 leaders and their partners from other carbon emitters, and the U.S.-led "Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change" ahead of the G-8 summit in Hokkaido.