US President George W Bush vowed Sunday to
have a "constructive" approach to climate change talks taking place
during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Japan.
"I'll be constructive. I've always advocated that there needs to be a
common understanding, and that starts with a goal," Bush told reporters
after a pre-summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Environmentalists see the United States as one of the biggest obstacles to a
post-Kyoto protocol deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Bush refused to ratify Kyoto because of concerns that it could damage the US economy and says he will not sign up to a new deal unless it also imposes strict emission
limits on rapidly developing countries such as India and China.
The US president reiterated his view on Sunday, saying: "I am
realistic enough to tell you that if China and India don't share that same
aspiration, that we're not going to solve the problem."
Fukuda has warned observers not to expect the G8 summit to produce a
groundbreaking deal on climate change, saying the task of setting emission
limits is the responsibility of the United Nations.
On Sunday, he said discussions among G8 participants were ongoing.
"On whether the G8 will agree on long-term targets or not, that is
something that the G8 is continuing consultations," Fukuda said.
Fukuda has placed climate change high up the agenda of the summit, which opens
in the northern island of Hokkaido on Monday.
His country is going ahead with plans to at least halve its greenhouse gas
emissions from current levels by 2050, regardless of what the other big
polluters do.
During their bilateral meeting, Bush and Fukuda also discussed North Korea's recent decision to disclose its nuclear activities and blow up the cooling
tower of its reactor at Yongbyon.
"But there are more steps to be taken," Bush said.
"We are concerned about enriched uranium, and proliferation, and human
rights abuses, ballistic missile programs. I view this process as a multi-step
process where there will be action for action," he added.
Bush is attending his eighth and final G8 before leaving the White House in
January.
Asked what he expected from the Japan meeting, he said: "I believe this is
going to be a successful G8.
"This is my eighth one. I've got a pretty good sense about whether or not
a G8 is going to be a success or maybe not such a success. This one is going to
be a success," he said, according to dpa.
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