UK Lead Climate Negotiator - Don't Expect Much Of Anything From G8 Talks Next Week - AFP

Britain's negotiator on climate change warned Thursday that the upcoming summit of the Group of Eight rich nations was unlikely to reach a consensus on how to tackle global warming.

"We should be careful not to expect too much of the conversations next week," John Ashton told reporters in Tokyo ahead of the July 7-9 summit in the northern resort of Toyako.

"We are not going to have a major breakthrough in the global effort on climate change because the conditions at the moment are not conducive," Ashton said. "We are still in the process of building the political consensus that we need."

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"Nobody moves till everybody moves, and the result is that nobody moves and you get a gridlock," he said, referring to past trade negotiations. "We cannot do that in relation to climate change." "If you want China and India to do it quickly, then you have to have the confidence to continue leading the way," he said.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2007/080626075815.fxa92v6v.html

I hear bears do something nasty in the woods.