Bush's climate talks 'engaging'

The latest US-led climate talks in Honolulu, Hawaii, have been described by delegates as the most frank and engaging climate negotiations so far.

It was the second in a series of Major Economies Meetings called by US President George W Bush.

He called the first in Washington last year after expressing a desire to find a solution to the climate issue.

That first meeting was described by angry EU delegates as a waste of time, a PR stunt for the American elections.

But this time the tone was very different.

One EU delegate said: "I came expecting nothing and was very pleasantly surprised. Normally, we get sterile pre-prepared statements of policy, but this time there was a very frank discussion exploring the very difficult and different conditions facing each of the countries. It was very constructive."

Brice Lalonde, the French climate ambassador, added: "It was very low-key but people just got on with it. The talks were very positive… until the final statement was discussed."

At that point, he said, Russia and India refused to include a statement that they had been discussing mandatory, internationally binding commitments, even though that is exactly what had been discussed.

A number of delegates offered a degree of optimism that the big economies might this year agree a global target for cutting emissions by 2050.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7223222.stm