G8 will turn up heat on US over global warming

CHINESE and African leaders have been invited to a one-day conference on global warming during this summer’s G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Either the president, Hu Jintao, or the premier, Wen Jiabao, is expected to head China’s delegation.

Tony Blair has put global warming and poverty in Africa at the heart of this year’s G8 summit, and the session will specifically address the problem of pollution among the emerging economies, such as China and India.

The event will also give the Prime Minister an opportunity to pressure the United States into pledging to reduce carbon emissions, following its refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement.

If Mr Blair can get some form of promise from the heavy-polluting emerging economies to tackle emissions, it is thought that the US will be more likely to sign up to an agreement.

China, as a developing nation, is not bound by the goals for restraining carbon dioxide emissions laid out in the Kyoto agreement, but Chinese support is crucial for its survival.

China is the world’s second-largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions with the second-biggest gross domestic product - and the US has long cited China as one reason why it will not ratify the deal.

The event will take the form of an "outreach session" during the summit, which is being staged at the Gleneagles Hotel from 6 to 8 July.

Green campaigners welcomed the fact that climate change was being addressed at the summit, but they were sceptical that anything other than vague commitments would emerge.