Bush urged to back U.N. climate efforts

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior officials from Europe, the United Nations and G8 countries piled pressure on U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday to back U.N. efforts to combat climate change at a summit of major powers this week.

Bush, who left for Europe on Monday, last week unveiled a plan for fighting global warming beyond 2012, saying he wanted the world's top 15 emitters to meet later this year and agree new measures to curb emissions by the end of 2008.

His plan shocked EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel who had wanted the G8 leading industrialised countries to reach a deal on similar measures at the summit she will host in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm.

European Union countries fear the Bush plan could undermine efforts to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol under the auspices of the United Nations. They are hoping to convince Bush to integrate his proposals with the U.N. process.

Speaking in Berlin after a meeting with leading climate experts, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called Bush's proposals a "step in the right direction" but cautioned Washington against going down a separate track.

"It was a good step but I think it is important that the commitment of the United States is not seen to be in parallel or even in contradiction to the global efforts but as a contribution to the efforts that are being planned in the United Nations," said Barroso.

Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, told reporters as he travelled with Bush to Europe on Monday he saw "an increasing convergence" among G8 leaders on global warming.

"We're in a position that there's a lot more in common in a way than there is in disagreement," he said.