US President George W Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that no definite targets on halting climate change would emerge from the G8 summit that got underway in Heiligendamm Wednesday, according to dpa. After meeting Merkel hours before the formal start of the summit, Bush voiced a "strong desire" to work with G8 nations on a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies. But the US president made no reference to Merkel's push for the developed countries of the G8 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 and to commit themselves to a global temperature rise of no more than two Celsius degrees this century. Merkel noted that there were "areas here and there" which needed further discussion. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he expected no definite agreement to emerge from the summit and repeated his criticism of the US approach. "I don't expect this summit to establish targets, but I expect there will be recognition of the need to have targets," said Barroso, attending the summit as the head of the EU's executive body. He added that the problem was not so much competition between different approaches, "but what is missing is leadership from some of our partners." Like Merkel, Barroso nevertheless welcomed the initiative on climate change put forward by Bush last month, saying it marked an "evolution" in the US position. Senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official Koji Tsuruoka said definite goals would not be agreed but that the summit was rather "a golden opportunity to make clear at the level of heads of state and government that this is a problem of the highest priority." He acknowledged that Japan had failed to measure up to its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Japan's greenhouse gas emissions had risen 8 per cent, he said, and now the ambitious target was to cut emissions by 14 per cent by 2012. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would present a new action plan on climate change soon, Tsuruoka said, adding that Abe's stated aim of cutting emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 should be seen rather as a ~Wtement fh_oion rather than as a concrete goal. Tsuruoka said Japan's aim was to draw all countries into a post-Kyoto agreement, but that defined targets should be avoided as this could scare off some countries. Merkel's looming failure to secure clear targets at the summit were being seen in Germany as the first major international setback the chancellor has suffered. In interviews published by the German media during the week leading up to the summit, Merkel firmly committed herself to fixed targets on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and to restricting global warming to two degrees. The chancellor made clear she would not enter into "murky compromises" and added, "I cannot negotiate on the two degrees." In the new US initiative, put forward by Bush last month, the emphasis is rather on achieving agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions among the world's 15 main polluters, including the rapidly growing emerging economies of India and China. Merkel is to sit down to bilateral talks with Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other G8 leaders later Wednesday. The summit kicks off with a dinner Wednesday, and the main talks start Thursday.
