LONDON, June 17 (UPI) -- Plans to tackle climate change to be unveiled at the Group of Eight summit have been watered down to please the United States, it was claimed Friday.
A leaked copy of the communique to be issued at the end of July's meeting of the G8 group of industrialized nations reveals that some of the central commitments have either been removed or put in brackets, indicating a failure to reach agreement.
Even the statement that "Our world is warming" has been put in brackets, while offers of money for research into green technologies have disappeared.
The draft -- obtained by Channel Four News -- differs significantly from an earlier version leaked on May 2, which itself was criticized for detailing no specific targets or timetables.
Environmentalists said the changes were made to ensure the plans would be acceptable to the U.S. administration, which has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary Norman Baker said U.S. President George Bush was "public enemy No. 1" as far as the environment was concerned.
