'Progress' but no agreement on emissions

"Significant progress" has been made by the G8 over climate change, George W Bush has said, despite no agreement over emissions targets.

World leaders meeting in Japan failed to set specific targets to reduce carbon emissions although Mr Bush said there was "significant progress towards a comprehensive approach" on the issue.

The Group of Eight - Britain, the US, Canada, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy and France - is ending its three-day summit in Hokkaido where issues such as climate change, the situation in Zimbabwe and the global food crisis are high on the agenda.

Meanwhile, 16 countries participating in the Major Economies Meeting at the summit said they "recognised that deep cuts in global emissions will be necessary" but developed major economies would have to implement midterm goals to cut greenhouse gas pollution.

According to a transcript of his speech, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his country must work to help its poor and cannot not even consider quantitative restrictions on emissions.

He said: "The imperative for our accelerated growth is even more urgent when we consider the disproportionate impact of climate change on us as a developing country."

Mr Singh added India had "little choice but to devote even more and huge resources to adaption in critical areas of food security, public health and management of scarce water resources".

He said developed countries had not shown demonstrable progress on even the low levels of greenhouse gas reductions that had been agreed to.

Mr Sing said; "This must change and you (the G8) must all show the leadership that you have always promised by taking and then delivering truly significant GHG (greenhouse gas) reductions."

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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