G8 revives hopes for U.N. deal, but goals vague

By Jeff Mason and Alister Doyle

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - World leaders revived hopes for a long-term U.N. deal to fight climate change on Thursday but experts branded their targets for cutting emissions as toothless.

A G8 summit in Germany agreed to seek "substantial" but undefined cuts in emissions as a step towards slowing global warming after the United States blocked European hopes of agreeing a target of 50 percent cuts from 1990 levels by 2050.

"Without a time frame, the cuts don't mean anything," said Bert Metz, a Dutch climate expert who chaired a U.N. report this year about the likely costs of adapting to climate change.

He said that world emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, had to peak in the next 10-25 years to avoid the worst effects of climate change which experts say will bring more floods, droughts and rising seas.

The summit in Germany made progress by agreeing to try to launch talks in Bali, Indonesia, in December aimed at reaching a deal in 2009 on a pact that would extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for combating global warming beyond 2012.

"I think it's a very positive outcome. It augurs very well for the conference of parties in Bali," said Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N. climate change Secretariat in Bonn.

"But bear in mind that this is a G8 conclusion and there are one or two other countries in the world who have to commit to a launch in Bali," he said. Other big emitters include China, India, Brazil and Indonesia.

Experts focused criticism on the lack of clarity about cuts.

The final text said all G8 nations -- meaning the United States and Russia -- would "consider seriously" goals by the EU, Canada and Japan of at least halving emissions by 2050.

GREENS CONDEMN

"We condemn G8 leaders for failing to live up to their historic responsibility for causing climate change. This is clearly not enough to prevent dangerous climate change," said Daniel Mittler of Greenpeace.

Still, he and other environmentalists welcomed the goal of a deal in 2009 to replace Kyoto. All G8 nations except the United States are part of Kyoto.

Businesses want clear rules as soon as possible to help guide investments in everything from coal-fired power plants to windmills.

"The G8's failure to reach a clear consensus on CO2 targets is a real setback," said Karina Litvack, Head of Governance and Sustainable Investment at F&C Investments, which has assets under management worth about $200 billion.

"By stalling on establishing a comprehensive target-setting regime, the G8 have put the brakes on at a time when we need to step on it," she said.