Divisions over global warming threaten EU-US climate meeting

Divisions over climate change threaten to derail a set piece EU-US summit and overshadow moves to strengthen transatlantic economic ties.

With time running out before Monday's meeting in Washington, some EU diplomats suggested that a weak declaration on global warming would be worse than no statement at all.

The meeting, which will be hosted by George Bush and attended by Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was seen as an opportunity for Europe and the US to align their positions on climate change before a G8 meeting in June. That gathering will be chaired by Ms Merkel, who holds the presidencies of the EU and G8 and who is pressing for a deal on the fight against global warming.

But the divisions prompted key players to play down the importance of the meeting yesterday. The US ambassador to the EU, C. Boyden Gray, said the summit "will not be a defining moment" on climate change, suggesting that agreements on transatlantic economic co-operation will be more concrete and far-reaching.

The German EU presidency said it was confident that the communiqué language will be agreed. However, European diplomats cast doubt over the likelihood of a significant breakthrough. The US has dug in over its insistence that there should be no commitment to binding targets unless developing countries such as China and India follow suit.

The hard line from the White House prompted internal divisions on the European side and tension among different parts of the government of Germany.

Ms Merkel's economic adviser, Jens Weidmann, reflected the caution over what can be achieved, conceding that it was "asking for a bit too much" to expect the US to be convinced to sign up to binding CO2 emissions targets.

He added: "What's important is that we engage in discussions with our American friends which make it clear for the need to act, and on that basis we can pursue discussions as part of the G8 process."

European officials have been fighting for a communiqué that makes a reference to EU climate change policies, recognises that the problem of global warming is manmade and that there is a need to reach a worldwide deal on tackling it but that the EU has committed to a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020.

Mr Gray said there were "some differences" over the declaration, adding: "The main difference is over the weight you give to new technologies versus binding targets now."

The US argues that it is investing more than the EU in technologies such as carbon capture, which could help countries such as China to tackle emissions.

He said there would be "real meat on the bone" of discussions on setting up a transatlantic economic council to identify barriers to trade and co-ordinate regulations and commercial and technical standards.

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