(7 Jun 2007)
1. Wide of G8 conference venue
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
''The important thing is that we now have an agreement - one, that we need a new worldwide agreement on climate change, two that at the heart of that should be a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, three, in the process that will then work out what that cut in emissions should be. There will be serious considerations given specifically to the goal of halving of emissions by 2050.''
3. Wide of G8 conference venue
4. SOUNDBITE: (English with Russian translation) George W. Bush, U.S. President:
''Vladimir and I just had a very constructive dialogue, particularly about missile defence. He expressed his concerns to me. He is concerned that the missile defence systems is not an act that a friend would do. He made some interesting suggestions. As a result of our discussions we both agreed to have a strategic dialogue, an opportunity to share ideas and concerns between out state department, defence department and military people.''
5. Wide of US President George W.Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin
6. SOUNDBITE: (Russian with English translation) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
''We have an understanding about common threats, but we have differences, differences in what ways and means we can use to overcome these threats. We carefully considered the U.S. proposal and we have ideas of our own. I have put forward these ideas in detail. The first plan is to use the radar station Gabala rented by us in Azerbaijan. Yesterday I had a conversation on this matter with the president of Azerbaijan. Our current agreement with Azerbaijan allows us to do this and the Azerbaijani president emphasised that he would be only too glad if his country could contribute to the cause of global security and stability.''
7. Putin and Bush shake hands and leave
STORYLINE:
British prime minister Tony Blair on Thursday described the agreement reached by Group of Eight leaders on "obligatory reduction goals" to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, as ''important''.
Their declaration calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, a goal some leaders had feared she would not reach over persistent US opposition to any agreement with binding caps on reductions.
Blair said that the agreement had three main tenets.
''One, that we need a new worldwide agreement on climate change, two that at the heart of that should be a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, three, in the process that will then work out what that cut in emissions should be.''
However, the language of the declaration falls short of an ironclad commitment.
It says the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases should "seriously consider" following the EU, Canada and Japan in seeking to cut emissions in half by 2050.
Merkel, who has made climate change the centrepiece of Germany's G-8 leadership, had steadily lobbied fellow leaders on climate change since they began arriving to this seaside resort for their annual summit.
Details about the declaration were not immediately available, and it was unclear how much binding weight such a "political declaration" would carry.
Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin, bitterly opposed to a U.S. missile shield in Europe, told U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday that Moscow would drop its objections if the radar-based system were installed in Azerbaijan.
Bush called Putin's idea an "interesting proposal," according to a White House National Security Adviser.
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