UK 'disappointment' over US climate deal

LONDON, June 13 (UPI) -- The British government is deeply disappointed by Washington's refusal to sign onto a deal on climate change, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said.

"There is a degree of disappointment that there isn't more common ground," she told the Independent in an interview published Monday.

Britain has urged the United States to accept an emissions cap as part of its agenda for the Group of Eight summit in July, a call that has been roundly rejected.

"There is no secret that we would like America to be more engaged," Beckett said. "But it is also no secret that we are working with them to try to make progress on the shape of a kind of future dialogue. And we are working with them on new technologies and we will continue to do that."

Ministers had already seen signs of "some movement" from the United States, she said, stressing technological advances.

Though Washington signing up to the Kyoto Protocol was "off the agenda," the British government is hopeful a dialogue could be established that would include "major energy users" such as the United States, India and China, she said.