Merkel says U.N. must lead climate change efforts

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Source: Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was "non-negotiable" that the United Nations should take the lead in global efforts to combat climate change, two days after U.S. President George W. Bush laid out his own strategy.

Merkel, who hosts a summit of Group of Eight leaders on June 6-8, denied Bush's plans were an affront to Germany, whose ambitions for a breakthrough on fighting climate change during its G8 presidency this year look doomed.

Bush's climate strategy rejects the European approach, which favours mandatory emissions caps and carbon trading. He also looked beyond the G8 summit of rich nations by setting a deadline of the end of 2008 for a deal between top emitters.

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"In a process led by the United Nations, we must create a successor to the Kyoto agreement which ends in 2012," she told Der Spiegel, adding that some additional initiatives from other countries could be useful.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02424230.htm

[Benhurst]

1. She's got a far better chance getting a back rub.