The chief of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development wants Japan to take the lead in establishing an effective technology-sharing program at this year's Group of Eight summit that would draw cooperation from emerging economies in tackling climate change.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, who is also a former director general of the World Trade Organization, said developing nations' exports should not be stifled in the name of preventing climate change, rapping such moves by some industrialized nations as protectionist.

"I hope that there will be some scheme from the G-8 in which this sort of sharing of technology could be enhanced," Supachai said in a recent interview.