As the second day of the G8 Summit draws to a close, it's been a day of warm weather and warm words in Japan.

In the midst of the masses of articles and reports flying out of Japan, we have today seen the announcement of cuts of "at least 50 per cent" in carbon emissions by 2050.

Content in the knowledge that they'd just made a momentous switch to a green future, the G8 leaders celebrated the occasion by slipping on their gardening gloves and nipping out to the official Summit gardens for a spot of tree planting.

Really, you couldn't make this stuff up.

While this is a step in the right direction since last year's pledge to simply "consider" the cuts, it's quite simply a case of too little, too late.

Poor people - who do not have the resources to cope with the increasingly erratic weather brought on by our planet's changing climate - need to see an immediate reduction in emissions.

If we're going to avoid a climate catastrophe, rich countries must reduce emissions by at least 25 - 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, with that rising to at least 80 per cent by 2050.

On the good side of things, today did see the 'announcement' of $50 billion in aid money - that's cash which could help pay for things like schools, hospitals, teachers, doctors and nurses in poor countries.

But this is old news. This 'announcement' was made at the previous Summits in Germany and Scotland. And despite these warm words, aid money has actually decreased for the last two years.

It's the final day of the Summit tomorrow. World leaders must pull their socks up. They must rise to the demands of the one million people worldwide who have called on them to do far more than just make promises.