UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that the progress made on climate change at the G8 summit was inadequate. He emphasized the importance of taking strong and immediate action to address this issue for the sake of humanity and the planet. Despite the G8's agreement to cut emissions by 80% by 2050, Ban criticized the leaders for not making more significant commitments. President Barack Obama also acknowledged the need for more ambitious efforts to address climate change, following Ban's criticism of the G8's lack of decisive action. At the beginning of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations meeting in L'Aquila, Italy, they were unable to convince China and India to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050. Despite this setback, President Obama remained optimistic and believed that progress could still be made before the UN climate change treaty talks in Copenhagen in December. He expressed this sentiment to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, stating that there was still time to resolve the disagreement before the important meeting. Obama was scheduled to lead the Major Economies Forum (MEF), where they were expected to aim to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, although they were not likely to agree on specific emission reduction targets. The absence of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who had left the summit to address ethnic conflicts in China that had resulted in numerous casualties, hindered the progress of the discussions. Temperatures have increased by approximately 0.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, which was marked by the widespread use of fossil fuels. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed hope that all countries present at the meeting, including major powers like the United States, Japan, and China, would agree on a temperature target. However, a G8 source expressed doubt that a deal on emissions could be reached. India insisted that developing countries would first need to see plans from wealthy nations to provide funding to help them deal with the effects of climate change before agreeing to deeper emissions cuts by 2020. The G8 countries have agreed to aim for a 50 percent reduction in global emissions by 2050, with the United States agreeing to this target for the first time. In addition, they have set a goal of an 80 percent reduction in emissions for developed countries. However, Russia quickly stated that it would not be able to meet this target 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 fragile state of the world economy, with wealthy nations recognizing significant risks to financial stability. China, along with Russia, India, and Brazil, used the second day of the summit to advocate for a long-term diversification of the global reserve currency system away from reliance on the dollar, a sensitive issue in currency markets. State Councilor Dai Bingguo suggested the need for a better system for issuing and regulating reserve currencies in order to maintain 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 nations, has faced obstacles related to proposed tariff and subsidy reductions. The G5 emphasized the importance of addressing issues with the Doha talks to boost confidence in global markets, urging wealthy nations to eliminate trade barriers and provide financial support to poorer countries.