US rejects German G8 climate goal

Police are watching the anti-G8 demonstrators from helicopters

Washington says it will not agree to climate change targets ahead of a G8 summit in Germany already marred by a row over US missile defence plans.

Rejecting proposals to slash emissions, a top US climate official said the G8 should not dictate members' policies.

Washington's row with Moscow over US plans for a shield in two former Soviet satellites continues to loom large.

And tensions are also mounting outside the summit area, where police are using water cannon to disperse protesters.

Several hundred anti-globalisation protesters have gathered outside the fence protecting the building where the leaders of the eight top industrialised nations are due to meet.

Others are trying to block the roads from the airport, where several delegations have yet to land.

Police are also said to be using tear gas, but there have not been reports of any arrests or injuries.


Some 16,000 officers have been deployed to deal with what are currently estimated to be around 6,000 protesters.


Click here for a map of the area


The police are keen to avoid the disturbances seen last weekend in the city of Rostock, where protests turned violent and some 1,000 people were injured.

Keeping cool

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting the summit, has set what is seen as an ambitious personal goal of persuading the leading industrialised countries to commit to cutting emissions by 50% by 2050.

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US President George W Bush



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She also wants them to increase fuel efficiency by 20% and limit the world's temperature rise to 2C.

However, President George W Bush's senior climate adviser said on Wednesday that a number of countries - including the US - would not sign up to those commitments.

James Connaughton insisted that there had been significant progress and consensus on the issue of climate change. But he made clear the US did not believe the G8 should be the forum for setting targets.

"There is significant agreement that those should be established on a national basis, and the only area of disagreement is that the G8 should dictate the national policies of its members," he said.

Mrs Merkel is meeting Mr Bush and every other leader of the Group of Eight club individually before the summit opens.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says meetings of the world's most powerful leaders are always difficult, but this one looks especially tough. Mrs Merkel is going to have to decide how far the most contentious issues can be pushed.

'Don't worry'

She is operating against a backdrop of increasingly fractious relations between some of the G8 members.

President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have been trading threats and accusations ahead of the meeting, sparked by Washington's plans to build a missile defence shield.

The Czech Republic is the planned site for a radar base, while interceptor missiles are due to be deployed in Poland.

Mr Bush, who is expected to meet Mr Putin on the sidelines of the summit, said the new system was a "purely defensive measure, aimed not at Russia but at true threats".

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Speaking in the Czech Republic on Tuesday, the American president said the Cold War was over and Russia was not an enemy of the US.

But he went on to accuse Russia of sliding backwards on democracy.

"Reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development," he said.


For his part Mr Putin has scoffed at US claims that the shield is designed to counter threats from states such as North Korea and Iran, indicating that the real target was Russia.

He warned if the US pressed ahead with its plans, Russia would target its weapons at Europe.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair entered the debate in a BBC interview on Wednesday, saying it was not in Russia's interest to have a "scratchy" relationship with Western countries.

He vowed a "frank discussion" with Mr Putin about his threats.

Mr Bush, for his part, dismissed Mr Putin's warning on Wednesday.

"Russia is not going to attack Europe," he told reporters.