German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that she is optimistic about possible progress to be made on the key climate change issue at the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized nations.

Speaking after one and a half hours of talks with U.S. President George W. Bush ahead of the G8 summit to be opened Wednesday evening, Merkel said that there is good chance for the G8 to find a common ground on climate change.

However, there will also be intensive talks on some details, she added.

Washington and Berlin have apparently failed to agree on fixed targets in the fight against global warming at talks ahead of the G8 summit, the German press service DPA said.

Germany, this year's G8 president nation which is hosting leaders from the world's main industrial countries in its northern seaside resort of Heiligendamm, has been pushing hard for firm targets on climate change.

Under Germany's proposal, the world's big players should commit themselves to limiting the rise of global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius this century and cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

However, the United States, the world's biggest greenhouse gas producer, voiced "fundamental opposition" to the German proposal, citing that environmental protection cannot come at the price of hurting economic growth.