World leaders in Italy for G8, G5 summit

L'AQUILA, July 9 Reuters) - Following are comments by world leaders at the second day of a summit of the Group of Eight major powers with leading developing economies in Italy.

US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

"While we don't expect to solve this problem in one meeting or one summit, I do believe we made some important strides forwards as we move toward Copenhagen.

"Ice sheets are melting, sea levels are rising, our oceans are becoming more acidic and we have already seen its effects on weather patterns our food and water sources and our habitats."

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO to Reuters

"This (reaching Doha trade deal in 2010) is a realistic target and it is up to all countries, both developed and developing, to deliver on this promise."

He added that the leaders agreed future talks would "build on progress already made on modalities," and instructed trade ministers to meet prior to September's Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations summit in Pittsburgh.

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN

"The discussion that we had over lunchtime was about the future of global institutions -- the role of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the G8, the G14 and the G20 and then there was a discussion about the drivers for growth in the world economy.

"I have not raised this issue of currencies. There was no real discussion about it. It may have been raised by someone at the meeting, I can't really recall that, but if it was raised it wasn't a major part of the discussion."

"Look, to talk about the long term future of the world economy and the arrangements that are necessary is obviously something that the whole world has got to do but in this present situation as we're trying to get out of a deep recession, I don't want to give the impression that there is some major change about to happen around the corner that suggests that the present arrangements are destabilized.

It may have been raised and I stand corrected but there was not a serious discussion about this and it was on the agenda for discussion and nobody submitted a paper on this issue and there is nothing I can see on any draft communique on this issue.

But of course it's a discussion that can take place about the long term but the suggestion that there is something that is going to happen in the next few weeks or months is just not realistic -- and therefore I don't think we should give people the impression that there is some big change about to happen that is going to hit the world very soon.

That is why I'm cautious about talking about it.

IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN asked whether there is a risk of a double dip recession

"No, our best forecast is not this one. We think the recovery will take place in the first quarter of 2010."

"There are still some downside risks. One is well known: it's what is happening in the financial sector ... The process of returning to normal in terms of credit is still at stake."

"We are far from normal in terms of credit distribution but a huge part of the problem in Europe is lack of demand not lack of supply. Households and SMEs are not borrowing just because they are afraid of the crisis."

GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL

"We will today agree on a joint document of the big economies -- the Major Economies Forum (MEF)."

Merkel also said she expected industrialized countries to set mid-term climate change goals by the end of the year.

SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER FREDERIK REINFELDT

On MEF draft: "15 minutes before going into the meeting (MEF) the two degrees is there and I am confident after all the discussions at official level until now, it will be there at the end of the meeting."

"But there is no mention and there will be no mention of the 2050 targets or mid-term targets. But we are not at Copenhagen and if we get the two degrees that will be a major success of this summit."

On talk of another MEF meeting:

"(UN) Ban Ki-moon has said he will host a meeting before the general assembly in September and I expect now you will see this forum included as part of the G20 summit at the end of September, focusing largely on finance."

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA's foreign policy advisor, MARCO AURELIO GARCIA:

"He (Lula) doesn't want to introduce the question about the dollar for a simple reason: it's understood that the persistence of the dollar as an international reference currency, it's going to continue for a long period."

"And it cannot be raised simply on a rhetorical level. We have to look for alternatives for this problem....

We think it's not a discussion that would make sense for heads of state to deal with. It's a discussion of obvious interest for economists ... "

CANADA ENVIRONMENT MINISTER JIM PRENTICE told CBC TV.

"It really fits together well with the pathway that Canada is on, that the government adopted, to reduce our emissions by minus 20 percent by 2020, and then by 2050 to reduce them by as much as 60 to 70 percent"

Prentice suggested the 80 percent target did not necessarily mean that each developed country had to deliver exactly that much.

U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

"The policies that they have stated so far as not enough"

"They have to agree long-term target, at least by 50 percent cut by 2050. But more importantly, the leaders of industrialized countries should agree on mid-term target ..."

"The leaders of G8 must be aware of their historical responsibility for the future of humanity. There must be bold and ambitious targets so we can seal the deal. That is my message, what I am going to discuss with leaders.

"I am going to convene a summit meeting on Sept 22 in the United Nations in New York. This is going to be the first and the largest summit meeting, with more than 100 leaders will gather... I sincerely hope by that time we will be able to sort out all these sticking, key, challenging issues, including targets and financial clarity...."

WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN ROBERT GIBBS to reporters after Obama's bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Lula:

"The two countries agreed to continue to work together leading up to Copenhagen later this year in an effort to find greater agreement among nations on the issues of climate change."

"One of the big things that he (Obama) stressed is that the two, Brazil and the United States, he thought, could work together to make progress leading up to Copenhagen, that there was still time in which they could close the gap on that disagreement in time for that important (meeting) ... There's no question that Lula and Brazil are very very important players as we lead up to that."