Aug. 26, 2007
Leaders from eight of the world's most industrialised countries concluded the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, having pledged to make cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but were forced to compromise with US President George W. Bush, who refused to commit to specific numerical targets. The US did, however, make a breakthrough commitment to halt the rise in global warming gases, and promised to follow up by making "substantial" reductions. The US and China lead the world in carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other dignitaries also promised to strike a new global deal by 2009 that would widen the scope of the UN-brokered Kyoto Protocol.
"In setting a global goal for emissions reductions [...] involving all major emitters, we will consider seriously the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global emissions by 2050," the leaders released in a joint statement posted on the G8 website.
The EU claims that greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed by at least 50 percent to prevent global temperatures from rising to levels that could trigger "dangerous" changes.
