Britain's Prince Charles said Tuesday the current financial crisis should not distract from the larger issue of global warming. «The credit crunch is rightly a preoccupation of vast significance and importance. But we take our eye off the climate crunch at our peril,» he said in a speech at a science museum in Tokyo. The heir to the British throne is visiting the world's second-largest economy for the first time since 1970, Associated Press reported. He spoke Tuesday after viewing exhibits related to global warming at Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. He called on advanced nations to cut carbon emissions by 70 to 80 percent by the year 2050, saying «nothing less than a full-scale transformation to a low-carbon society is needed.» The prince is in the midst of a four-day jaunt through the country, which coincides with the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Britain and Japan. He is due to visit a solar panel lab, meet ecology students and tour a sustainable forest site, before continuing on to Brunei and Indonesia. His wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is accompanying him on the Japan and Brunei portion of the trip.
