No consensus on climate after Bush, Merkel talk

TOYAKO, Japan — President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged today to keep working together on common problems, but progress appeared slow on reaching a consensus on climate change as the Group of Eight major economies tackled that and other knotty global issues.

Merkel expressed optimism after the two leaders met one on one before today's summit session in this resort town in northern Japan.

"I'm very satisfied with the work that has gone on on the G-8 documents, as regards progress on the issue of climate change, cooperation in the area of food and oil," she said.

She cited "a very interesting exchange of view, very intensive exchange of view." Merkel also said she hoped that international trade negotiators could make progress on restarting long-stalled trade liberalization talks "over the next few weeks to come."

Bush was more terse after the meeting, not mentioning global warming but saying: "We talked about a lot of common problems, and a lot of common opportunities. We talked about the G-8. We talked about the need to work — continue to work together on Iran."

He told Merkel he valued her friendship and advice and called her "a constructive force for good."

The two met just before G-8 members plunged into a discussion about the major problems on the agenda: deciding whether to set new targets for reducing emissions that contribute to global warming, and deciding what to do about rising food and oil prices.

The summit partners appeared close to a deal for using international food reserves to help the poorest countries cope with soaring grain prices. But divisions remain on climate change that pitted older, more established economies like those in the G-8 with fast-rising economies like China and India.

Beyond the climate-change standoff, Bush's proposal to base a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe was rebuffed Monday by Russia's new president, Dimitry Medvedev. And Bush failed to achieve a consensus among African leaders on sanctions against the government of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to protest his widely condemned re-election last month after his opposition-party rival dropped out, fearful for his life.

"You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe," Bush said after a Monday meeting with African leaders who were invited to meet with summit partners. "I'm extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham election."

Separately, Merkel said earlier that Mugabe's election was not legitimate. "As for us in Germany, we do not rule out further sanctions," she said, adding that many other G-8 nations feel the same way.

But African nations are deeply divided, with many reluctant to put public pressure on Mugabe despite U.N. and Western calls for tough action.

Technically, the G-8 includes the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia and Japan. The annual event has broadened to include heads of states from around the world, including the so-called "Africa outreach" group of seven African leaders, from Tanzania, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

The big issue on today's agenda is climate change. Merkel is one of the G-8's strongest advocates for tough reductions in the emissions that contribute to global warming.

She succeeded in winning Bush's backing last year, when the summit was held in Germany, to a statement pledging that the group would seriously consider a goal of halving greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 — while failing to persuade him to commit to more specific targets.

Now, as then, Bush is insisting that major emerging economies like China and India be included in any plan to cut emissions. But they have so far resisted. Adding to Bush's isolation on the issue, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said G-8 nations must reach agreement among themselves and avoid taking the approach that "I will do nothing unless you do it first," which he called a "vicious circle."

Still, Bush has come a long way since his first G-8 summit when he held that evidence was not conclusive that man's activity contributed to the warming of the Earth's climate.

Wednesday, the G-8 leaders will be joined by eight other big-polluting "major economy" nations that are not members to see if a wider agreement is possible.