The world's leading industrialized nations are set to fall short of fixed targets on climate change as their leaders were ready to kick off the Group of Eight (G8) summit yesterday.

Germany, who is hosting leaders from the other seven group members in its northern sea resort Heiligendamm as G8 presidency this year, has been pushing hard for setting firm targets on climate change.

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

However, the proposal has apparently failed to win support from the United States, the world's largest greenhouse gas producer, making climate change one of the most controversial issues ahead of their annual summit, which also brings together leaders from Britain, France, Japan, Canada and Russia.

Following his bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush voiced a "strong desire" to work with G8 nations on a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies.

Despite the emphatic diplomatic message, Bush made no reference to Germany's proposal.

Nearly one week before the summit, Bush announced a separate plan, calling on 15 of the world's biggest greenhouse emitters to meet and agree on long-term goals by the end of 2008.

The United States, which has not signed the Kyoto Treaty, remains opposed to mandatory targets, citing that environmental protection cannot come at the price of hurting economic growth.

Confident of achievement to be made with the United States on combating poverty in Africa, Merkel acknowledged that there were other "areas here and there" which needed further discussion.

Helping Africa and combating climate change were the two leading topics on the agenda of this year's G8 summit.

A high-ranking U.S. official had already made it clear earlier Wednesday that the summit would end without an agreement on fixed targets in the fight against global warming.

Each country had to set its own targets, and it would take more time until all leading industrialized nations could agree on a joint vision, said James Connaughton, Bush's chief environmental adviser.

Connaughton noted that the U.S. stand was also shared by other G8 members, such as Japan and Canada.

As current holder of the European Union's presidency, Germany managed to get the bloc's 27 member states to endorse an ambitious plan to combat climate change in March.

Under the plan, the EU is unilaterally committed to reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to the 1990 level and by 30 percent if other major emitters join.

Germany's proposal was largely supported by the other three EU members within the G8, namely Britain, France and Italy. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, although a staunch ally of Bush on most global issues, explicitly called in the run-up to G8 summit for the setting of clear targets.