Outcome in doubt

It is hoped that the G8 summit will play a constructive and fundamental role in solving the climate change issue, which leaders of several big powers have vowed to do.

Following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Sunday, U.S. President George W. Bush said "I'll be constructive (on dealing with climate change). I've always advocated that there needs to be a common understanding and that starts with a goal."

A meeting of 16 major greenhouse gas emitters -- the G8 members and eight other countries -- will be held Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit to discuss climate change.

But the possibility of a breakthrough on the climate change issue at the meeting remains in doubt.

If G8 leaders do hope to make progress in the fight against climate change at the summit, they should first abide by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) adopted in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Bali road map adopted in 2007, observers say.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)