TONY Blair last night hailed a compromise deal between the world's richest countries to slash greenhouse gases as "a major, major step forward" - but environmentalists said it was barely worth the paper it was written on, as there were no firm targets.
At the G8 summit, the leaders of Britain, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan agreed to "seriously consider" halving greenhouse gases by 2050.
Their statement agreed harmful greenhouse gas emissions should stop ris
ing "followed by substantial global emissions reductions".
The European nations, Japan and Canada had been pushing for a commitment at the summit in Heiligendamm, Germany to halve emissions by 2050, but the G8 did not sign up to this.
The statement also did not commit to the target pursued by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, under which global temperatures would be allowed to rise by no more than 2C before being brought back down.
But Mr Blair brushed aside criticism about the lack of binding numerical targets. In a nod to the US's recent conversion in the climate change debate, he said: "The important thing is we now have an agreement. This is a major, major step forward.
"There's now the recognition that we do need a global deal with everyone in it."
Such a deal would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, Mr Blair said, adding that a deal on the detail could not be expected at this summit.
The agreement would have to cover all the major countries, "the developed and developing world", including the US, China and India, he said.
John Sauven, the director of Greenpeace UK, said the deal fell short of what was needed to protect the climate.
"An agreement without targets is barely worth the paper it's written on," he said. "Bush says the US will 'seriously consider' substantial long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but that's like saying aid to Africa is a good thing then refusing to actually commit to donating a single dollar."
Antonio Hill, a policy adviser at Oxfam, welcomed the deal but said it was "profoundly disappointing" that some members, including the US, had failed to sign up to firm targets.
"This means that the world is still on track for global warming above 2C - dangerous climate change that will devastate poor countries and massively undermine the fight against poverty," he said. "Poor people will still face grave risks associated with catastrophic climate change, including increasingly severe droughts, floods and famines.
"The eight most powerful countries in the world had an unprecedented opportunity this week to boost global efforts to respond to the threat of global warming and sharply reduce the risks that poor people face.
"They have taken one step forward, but they should be running by now."
The G8 deal comes ahead of talks with the "plus five" - China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa - today. So far, Brazil, China and India have resisted signing up to cutting emissions, arguing their economies were playing catch-up with the G8.
POLICE INVOLVED IN CLASHES ON LAND AND SEA
POLICE rammed two inflatable speedboats that breached a security zone around the seaside resort where world leaders were meeting yesterday, tipping activists into the Baltic and injuring three of them.
Land access to the G8 summit venue, a luxury hotel in the small seaside town of Heiligendamm, was blocked for a second day as thousands of anti-globalisation protesters jammed roads and scuffled with riot police. Nearly 260 protesters were detained yesterday.
