Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday announced a loan to Indonesia of US$300m dollars in the first batch of aid under Tokyo’s new initiative on fighting climate change.

Fukuda met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Japanese northern resort of Toyako on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit.

Fukuda “highly praised” Indonesia’s leadership at a UN-led conference in Bali in December that set a deadline of the end of 2009 to reach a new climate change treaty, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.

“The prime minister informed the president of Japan’s decision to extend a loan of Us$300m dollars, the first batch under the Cool Earth Partnership programme,” it said.

The Japanese initiative aims to extend aid worth 10 billion dollars, mostly in low-interest loans, to the developing world to help the world meet a goal of halving emissions blamed for global warming by 2050.