The G-8 nations agreed at their summit to a goal of cutting the world's greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 and emissions from their countries by 80 percent by then to help reach that goal.
But developing nations refused to sign on for specific emissions-reductions targets for their own countries.
US President Barack Obama said on Thursday the global recession makes it harder to strike an international agreement to check the deterioration of climate.
Barack Obama, US President, said, "It is no small task for 17 leaders to bridge their differences on an issue like climate change. We each have their national priorities and politics to contend with, and any steps we agree to here are intended to support and not replace the main UN negotiations with more than 190 countries. It's even more difficult in the context of a global recession, which I think adds to the fears that somehow addressing this issue will contradict the possibilities of robust global economic growth. But ultimately we have a choice, we can either shape our future or we can let events shape it for us."
The results of the summit will be a pivotal marker of what could happen in talks in December in Copenhagen, when the UN tries to conclude a new worldwide climate deal.
(CCTV July 10, 2009)
