G8 leaders gearing up for fierce negotiations

Sources close to the talks intimated that Washington appeared to be edging away from outright rejection of moves to halt rising world temperatures. This follows the international furore that greeted the recent leaking of the US negotiating position, which appeared to rule out any hope of achieving a breakthrough on a comprehensive climate deal before British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves office next month. The Guardian reports that it isn’t just the US posting strong objections to the wording of the communiqué – Russia is, too, and India and China have also expressed reservations. It had been hoped that the five-point agreement, which is being negotiated under Germany’s presidency of G8, would set out the key principles to allow progress in the UN for a treaty to replace the Kyoto agreement, when it runs out in 2012. The toughest battle will focus on the establishment of a stabilisation goal that would tie signatories to a commitment to limit the global temperature rise to two degrees and the establishment of a global carbon trading market, both of which the US rejects. Full report in The Guardian Read another report in the Financial Times

Greenpeace says the US is preparing to reject proposed climate change targets. The Washington Post point out, however, that the White House has declined to confirm whether the comments on a document released by Greenpeace were from US officials. The unattributed comments written on a draft summit communique, which Greenpeace said were written by US officials and handed to it by an undisclosed third party, said: \'The US still has serious, fundamental concerns about this draft statement... The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses multiple \'red lines\' in terms of what we simply cannot agree to.\' Full report in The Washington Post

The Bush administration position flies in the face of its constituents’ concerns. Declaring that the changing climate is a ‘moral and spiritual’ issue, Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders are urging President George W Bush and Congress to take action against global warming, says a report on the PlanetArk site. In a recently published open letter, more than 20 religious groups urged US leaders to limit greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources. Full report on the PlanetArk site

Japan is taking a different tack, and its Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unveiled ambitious plans to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 in a proposal that would include the world\'s biggest emitters, the US and China, reports The Guardian. Japan, which will host next year\'s G8 summit, is concerned that an insistence on numerical targets will discourage the US from signing up any agreement, particularly if other big emitters, such as India and China, continue to be exempted. Tokyo officials were quick to stress that the \'Cool Earth 50\' proposals were part of a non-binding \'vision\' for dealing with climate change. Japan, meanwhile, appears likely to fall short of its Kyoto target of a 6% reduction. Despite improvements in energy efficiency, its greenhouse gas emissions as of March last year were 14% higher than in 1990. Full report in The Guardian