UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his disappointment with the progress on climate change made by the G8 leaders, stating that their commitments were not sufficient. He emphasized the importance of taking immediate action to combat climate change for the future of humanity and the planet. Despite the G8's agreement to cut emissions by 80% by 2050, Ban stressed the need for more substantial reductions sooner. President Barack Obama also acknowledged the need to bridge the gap with developing countries on climate change, following Ban's criticism of the G8's efforts. During the first day of a meeting of the G8 in L'Aquila, Italy, China and India did not agree to the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050. Obama, aiming to leave his mark on his first G8 summit by leading a meeting on the environment, expressed optimism that progress could still be made before the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. Despite challenges, Obama was set to chair the Major Economies Forum (MEF) and work towards limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, although specific emission cuts were not agreed upon. The absence of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who left to address clashes in China, hindered progress. Temperatures have increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution due to the widespread use of fossil fuels. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed hope that all countries present at the meeting, including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada, Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico, would agree on temperature targets. However, a G8 source mentioned that reaching a deal on emissions was not realistic. India emphasized that developing countries were looking to see plans from wealthier nations to provide financial assistance for dealing with the effects of climate change, such as floods, heatwaves, storms, and rising sea levels. Additionally, they are calling for richer nations to make more significant emissions cuts by 2020. The G8 countries reached an agreement to reduce global emissions by 50 percent by 2050, with the United States agreeing to this goal for the first time. They also established a target of an 80 percent reduction for developed countries collectively. However, Russia stated it would not be able to achieve this by 2050 and Canada's Environment Minister Jim Prentice referred to the 80 percent goal as an "aspirational goal." The summit also focused on the state of the world economy, with rich nations acknowledging significant risks to financial stability. China, along with Russia, India, and Brazil, used the second day of the summit to advocate for diversification of the global reserve currency system away from reliance on the dollar. State Councilor Dai Bingguo suggested the need for a more efficient system for issuing and regulating reserve currencies to ensure stability in exchange rates and promote a diverse international reserve currency regime. The G8 and G5 expressed hope for progress in the stalled Doha trade talks, aiming to conclude them by 2010. The Doha round, initiated in 2001 to aid developing countries, has faced challenges due to proposed tariff and subsidy reductions. The G5 pledged to address issues hindering the Doha talks, which would boost confidence in global markets, and called on wealthy nations to eliminate trade barriers and provide financial support to poorer countries.