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Britain seeks climate accord despite Bush's rejection

G8 - SUMMIT, Tuesday (AFP) Britain said Monday it was seeking a "satisfactory outcome" to combat global warming at the Group of Eight (G8) summit, even though US President George W. Bush threw cold water on a Kyoto-style deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw sought to play down Bush's comments, which came just two days before the G8 leaders start an annual meeting at the Gleneagles golf resort in Scotland, which ends Friday.

"That does not however mean that the results of the G8 summit later this week will be unsatisfactory," Straw said during a joint press conference with his visiting German counterpart Joschka Fischer.

"I believe there will be a satisfactory outcome both in respect of aid to Africa and in respect of climate change," he said, referring to the two issues that Prime Minister Tony Blair, who will host the conclave, has placed at the top of the agenda.

Bush said global warming was "a significant, long-term issue that we've got to deal with" but vowed to reject any legally-binding accord to cut carbon emissions similar to the 1997 Kyoto Treaty which Washington refused to sign.

In an interview on British television, he explained that the landmark environment treaty was a "lousy deal" for the US economy.

"I walked away from Kyoto because it would have damaged the American economy, it would have destroyed the American economy, it was a lousy deal for the American economy," he told Britain's private ITV television. "If you're trying to make me say I support Kyoto, the answer is no," Bush said, adding that wanted the summit in Gleneagles to trigger instead a new phase in international cooperation to develop new energy technologies.

Taking effect in February, the Kyoto Protocol calls for a global cut of 5.2 percent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 over 1990 levels.

The Financial Times quoted diplomats as saying those preparing for the G8 summit had drafted an accord making two explicit mentions of the Kyoto Protocol and acknowledging "that human activity contributes to climate change."

In a sign that Bush was beginning to acknowledge such a link, he said this was true "to a certain extent".

Asked if he would make a special effort to help British Prime Minister Tony Blair in return for his support over Iraq, Bush replied: "I don't really view our relationship as one of quid pro quo".

He added: "I go to the G8 not really trying to make him look bad or good, but I go to the G8 with an agenda that I think is best for our country."

A Blair spokeswoman said the prime minister had also made clear recently that he did not regard his relationship with Bush in "quid pro quo" terms.

"G8 is not about drawing the US into Kyoto or setting new standards," she said.

"Because they take a different view doesn't mean that the US cannot work with Europe and others to take forward measures to tackle climate change."

For her part, Britain's Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett acknowledged that the negotiations were still "likely to go down to the wire" at the summit.

She told BBC radio that the aim was to secure a general agreement on tackling greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

"What we wanted and what we do still want is to try to end up going in the same direction, that wherever people come from there is a recognition about the urgency of the problem and there is agreement," the minister said.

"What we hope for is quite an ambitious action plan on steps that the international community can take, and also agreement to try to take forward discussion and dialogue about the future," she said.

Turning up the heat on the G8 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States violent protests broke out in Edinburgh, where about 1,000 anarchists and anti-globilization demonstrators clashed with police, who are preparing for further skirmishes in the days ahead.

Blair, the summit host, is keen meanwhile to get a strong declaration from his G8 partners on fighting poverty in Africa that will feature bold new initiatives on aid, trade and debt reduction.

Yet international aid workers feared G8 efforts to fight poverty in Africa would fall short of expectations raised Saturday by the Live 8 concerts worldwide and a mass demonstration in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

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