Untied States President George W. Bush's new blueprint for tackling global warming has been attacked by other carbon emitters, with some branding his scheme a step backwards in the battle against climate change.
Earlier Bush called for the growth in US greenhouse gas emissions to be stopped by 2025. It was the first time he had set a specific target date for US climate pollution reductions.
Leading the charge at a meeting in Paris was South Africa, which lashed the proposals Bush outlined as a retreat by the planet's No. 1 polluter.
South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
"I believe it is a major complicated factor. We just had an agreement in Bali in December last year where the United States committed itself to a certain framework. And this statement by President Bush and the current administration in the United States unfortunately takes us back to before that. We would have liked to see progress and not re-negotiating, re-interpreting what we have already agreed as the international community."
Chinese delegate Su Wei said it is good news that Bush was talking about emissions. But he added the United States needs to cut its emissions not just limit their growth.
The European Union, which had challenged the US to follow its lead on slashing greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020, also voiced disappointment.(wwW.hxen.com)
The meetings in Paris were part of a US-sponsored series of negotiations on global warming.
They involve representatives from the countries that produce 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, including the United States, the European Union, China and India.
