G8 leaders agree 'breakthrough' climate change deal

Heiligendamm, Germany - Leaders of the world's key industrialized nations agreed a breakthrough deal on combating climate change, including a pledge to slash global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. "We have a great success ... a major step forward," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after leaders at a Group of Eight (G8) summit in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm gave their go-ahead to the climate change deal.

"I can very well live with this compromise," said Merkel. But she added that "none of these documents are binding."

The German leader, who is hosting the G8 meeting, said negotiations among G8 participants had been especially difficult on setting a precise 50-per-cent target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

She said it was significant that future climate change discussions would continue within the United Nations.

The G8 statement on climate change referred to the need for a UN "agreement" on climate change - rather than a "framework" - following the 2012 expiry of the current Kyoto Protocol on global warming, said Merkel.

The German leader said there was agreement that temperature rise this century would be limited to between 1.5-2 degrees Celsius.

The climate change pact is a major victory for Merkel who identified the fight against global warming as a major issue for the G8 talks.

The German leader obtained what she set out to achieve: that G8 members commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels.

She also wanted them to increase fuel efficiency by 20 per cent and limit the world's temperature rise this century to 2 degrees Celsius.

However, US President George W Bush came to the G8 summit refusing to agree to specific targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

But he made a surprise proposal last week for a meeting of the world's 15 top emitters for discussions on ways of combating global warming.

The US is not a member of the Kyoto Protocol.

G8 members include Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada and Russia. The European Commission is also a participant.

A summit statement said all G8 leaders were committed to taking "strong and early action" to tackle climate change.

"We will seriously consider the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global emissions by 2050," the statement said, adding: "We commit to achieving these goals."

The summit said all major emerging economies must also join the endeavour. "As climate change is a global problem, the response to it needs to be international," it underlined.

The statement pointed out that the "UN climate process is the appropriate forum for negotiating future global action on climate change."

As such, all nations must participate "actively and constructively" in the UN climate change conference to be held in Bali, Indonesia in December "with a view to achieving a comprehensive post-2012 agreement that should include all major emitters."

The framework for a new global climate change pact should be agreed by the end of 2008 and an agreement should be concluded by 2009, G8 leaders said.

Leaders also vowed to develop, deploy and foster the use of sustainable, less carbon intensive technologies in all areas of energy production.

"Private sector investment is and will remain the primary means of technology deployment and diffusion," they said.

The statement called on developing countries to curb deforestation and insisted that industrialized nations would work on improving energy efficiency.

Discussions on climate change will also top the agenda on Friday when G8 leaders meet their counterparts from China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

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