By DPA
London : British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday he believes he can persuade US President George W. Bush to agree for the first time to a global target for a "substantial cut" in greenhouse gas emissions.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper Wednesday, Blair said that US was "on the move" in its position on climate change.
Blair said there would be "tough negotiations" at the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Germany on the issue, as it was "still unclear exactly" what Bush would agree to on climate change.
But he was certain, Blair added, that the US president's global warming initiative presented last week was "not a ploy to undermine the UN or the G8."
"I think the announcement by President Bush last week was significant and important, and it is absurd to say otherwise, since it moved things on. On the other hand, you then need to flesh out what it means," Blair said.
He stressed that any agreement reached between the G8 and the five leading developing countries would have to be sanctioned by the entire UN.
Asked about the prospect of leaving the G8 summit without a deal, Blair said, "Failure is if there is not an agreement that leads to a global deal with substantial reduction in emissions at the heart of it."
Blair said he wanted the final communiqué to contain a commitment to a cut of 50 percent in carbon emissions by 2050 on 1990 levels.