President George W Bush on Friday urged nations pumping out most of the world's greenhouse gases to agree by mid- 2008 on a long-term goal to reduce emissions, but with no binding commitments.
The US president lobbied a 16-nation meeting for his voluntary approach to fighting climate change, ignoring pressure from Europe, the United Nations and most other nations for the US to accept mandatory cuts in emissions.
He touted his view that technology and alternative fuels, including nuclear power, are the way to fight global warming. He proposed a new global fund to finance "clean energy" projects in poorer nations.
"Our nations have an opportunity to leave the debates of the past behind and reach a consensus on the way forward," he told the meeting. "No one country has all the answers, including mine."
Convened by Bush, the meeting brought together Western and emerging nations that account for 80 per cent of the world's emissions of greenhouse gases, including fast-growing economies such as China, Brazil and India.
Environmental groups and some governments raised concern that the US is setting up a separate track to divert the UN talks.
Bush insists that the small group of key nations can spur a deal in broader UN talks aimed at a new international pact against global warming to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Having emerging economies covered under any new global warming pact is a key US demand.
Bush told delegates said he expects the group to set a long-term goal for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Leaders of the 16 countries will meet by next summer to "finalize the goal," he said.
Bush rejected the Kyoto pact's mandatory cuts when he took office in 2001, saying they were economically harmful.
He has taken a more active stand this year under pressure from US corporations, state leaders and the general public, setting aside long-time doubts about the science behind global warming and accepting the problem as a "serious challenge."
But his appeal to the two-day conference added little to proposals he has laid out over the past year, centred on each country setting its own goals for fighting global warming.
"We must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people," Bush said.
In contrast to the no-firm-numbers US approach, the European Union has called for a 50 per cent reduction in global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels.
Yvo de Boer, the top UN climate change official, said many countries at the meeting called for mandatory cuts in carbon emissions that would set prices for an emissions trading market - a model used by the EU.
"The carbon market isn't a silver bullet, but many people feel it's a part of the solution," de Boer said in a telephone interview.
But he said he was encouraged by Bush administration pledges that the Washington group is meant to be part of the broader UN process.
Global warming "is being taken much more seriously by this administration," de Boer said.
Greenpeace, the pressure group, called the meeting a waste of time.
"Bush has brought all these countries to Washington and has offered absolutely nothing new to help solve global warming," Greenpeace spokesman Daniel Mittler said in a statement. dpa tc aw
