G8 likely to reach a deal on climate change

G8 likely to reach deal on climate change at Gleneagles - report

BRUSSELS (AFX) - G8 leaders look set to reach an agreement on climate change at their summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, later this week, according to the Financial Times.

Citing diplomats from several G8 countries, the FT said the US is prepared to concede that human activity contributes to climate change and that action must be taken.

While US president George Bush will still not sign up to the Kyoto protocol to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the US and France agreed a draft communique on the issue at a meeting of diplomats in London ahead of the summit, the newspaper said.

'The idea is there in the text that we know enough not to slow climate change, to stop it and reverse it,' a British diplomat said.

The FT said the draft text makes two explicit references to the Kyoto treaty, which has been a requirement of France and other countries.

'It makes clear that it is the use of energy from fossil fuels that contributes to greenhouse gases,' another diplomat said.

On Sunday, French president Jacques Chirac said during a visit to Russia with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin: 'We had difficult discussions and it seems, I sincerely hope, that we are heading for an agreement.'

Chirac added: 'We are waiting to know the American position, which was... far more moderate, or less demanding than ours. I hope we can find a sufficiently clear, firm agreement in this field.'

And in an interview with Britain's ITV television, Bush said he wanted the Gleneagles summit to trigger a new phase in international cooperation to develop new energy technologies.

'I think you can grow your economy and at the same time do a better job of harnessing greenhouse gases,' Bush said.

'That's exactly what I intend to talk to our partners about,' he said.

AFX News Limited

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