The Group of Eight leaders are set on Tuesday to take an "important step" forward on fighting global warming, the stickiest issue at their summit, a European Union source said.
The European Union and Japan have been pressing for a G8 statement that goes beyond a summit pledge last year to "seriously consider" a goal of halving global carbon emissions by mid-century and refers to the need for interim targets as well.
Senior G8 officials met late into the night in Japan to thrash out wording that would allow President George W. Bush to put aside deep misgivings and sign on to a long-term global goal, the EU source said, asking not to be named.
The officials had reached a tentative agreement on the statement, according to both the EU source and a Japanese government source. Neither would give details of the pact.
Bush has insisted that Washington cannot agree to binding targets unless big polluters such as China and India commit to reining in their emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
"The European Commission is confident and optimistic about the outcome and that this will mean an important step compared with Heiligendamm," the EU source told Reuters, referring to last year's G8 summit in Germany.
"You know what the (European Commission) president's idea of success was and when he was briefed this morning there was a smile on his face."
The agreement was expected to be unveiled later on Tuesday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday after a morning meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush that she was "very satisfied" with the G8's work on the issues of climate change as well as on soaring food and oil prices, also high on the agenda.
Bush did not mention those issues in his brief comments after the bilateral talks.
The statement on climate change is expected to highlight agreements to develop new technologies and provide funds to help poor countries limit greenhouse gas emissions.
But activists were wary of prospects for real progress until a new U.S. president takes office next year.
"It's a little bit of a kabuki play," said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Everyone is just waiting for the next president to see how that changes things."
SOARING FOOD AND FUEL PRICES
Global warming ties into other big themes at the three-day meeting at a plush mountain-top hotel on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where 21,000 police have been mobilized.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who attended talks on Monday with African leaders, said the drive to reach eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the U.N. General Assembly to reduce world poverty by 2015 was being directly hampered by global warming.
He urged the G8 to send a strong political signal by setting a long-term goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, backed by intermediate targets that would set market forces in train to reduce energy consumption.
The G8 will set out its positions on climate change, aid to Africa, rising food prices and the global economy in a raft of statements due to be issued later on Tuesday.
Japan's Yomiuri newspaper said on Monday that the leaders' communique would highlight downside risks to the world economy and label rising food and oil prices a "serious threat".
The higher price of oil, which hit a record high of $145.85 a barrel last week, is taking a particularly heavy toll on the world's poor. A World Bank study issued last week said up to 105 million people could drop below the poverty line due to the leap in food prices, including 30 million in Africa.
"How we respond to this double jeopardy of soaring food and oil prices is a test of the global system's commitment to help the most vulnerable," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday.
"It is a test we cannot afford to fail," he told reporters.
To help cushion the blow, officials said the G8 would unveil a series of measures to help Africa, especially its farmers, and would affirm its commitment to double aid to give $50 billion extra in aid by 2010, with half to go to the world's poorest continent.
The summit wraps up on Wednesday with a Major Economies Meeting comprising the G8 and eight other big greenhouse gas-emitting countries, including India, China and Australia.
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