Leaders Talking Green

A preparatory meeting ahead of the summit in the German Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm would be held in May, the chancellor said after talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Berlin.

Merkel said the meeting would discuss technical issues related to carbon pricing and climate stabilization that could be turned into concrete political decisions at the June 6-8 summit.

Germany currently holds the presidency of the G8, which also includes Britain, the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, France and Russia.

Merkel said she would lobby for an agreement that would aim to limit global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius in the coming decades.

"This is an important goal laid down by scientists and we should try to abide by it," the chancellor said, adding that the G8 states would also discuss issues such as technology transfer with the emerging economic powers of China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil.

Now is the time for change

Blair said now was the right time to push for concrete action in preventing climate change.

"These next few months are absolutely crucial," he said. "I think there is broad agreement in the world today on the threat that climate change poses to our environment and our planet."

Blair also linked the issue of climate change with efforts to secure and sustainable energy supplies.

"This is the right moment for us to look at how we both protect our environment and grow sustainably, but also how we make sure that we have good, secure supplies of energy that we need in the years to come," he added.

Quartet to meet in Berlin next week

The two leaders also welcomed the current movement in the Mideast peace process and the Berlin meeting scheduled for next week of the Mideast quartet of mediators, grouping the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations.

"We are at a very delicate moment in the Middle East," Blair said in reference to last week's Mecca agreement between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah on a government of national unity.

Blair and Merkel also welcomed Tuesday's breakthrough with North Korea as a step towards ending the country's controversial nuclear program.

North Korean, Iranian nuclear ambitions

The agreement was a good example of what can be achieved by taking "a strong negotiating position based on principle," the two leaders said.

Merkel said she was sure that the agreement would "not be lost on Iran," which is threatened with UN sanctions over its refusal to halt its own nuclear enrichment program.

Blair said the issue was not to prevent the likes of North Korea or Iran from "getting access to energy which they need for their own country and their people."

It was "to make sure that they live up to their obligations within the international community and do not develop a nuclear capability that threatens, destabilizes and causes immense trouble in their region and across the world," the prime minister said.

After years of contentious negotiations, North Korea for the first time agreed Tuesday to implement steps to abandon its nuclear activities in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel oil aid.