She said a summit declaration called for cutting emissions in half by 2050 — a deal it appeared she would not reach due to persistent opposition by U.S. President George W. Bush to specific, binding commitments on reductions.

However, the language of the declaration falls short of an ironclad commitment. It says the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases should ``seriously consider'' following the EU, Canada and Japan in seeking to cut emissions in half by 2050.

Ms. Merkel, who has made climate change the centrepiece of Germany's G8 leadership, had steadily lobbied fellow leaders on climate change for months before they began arriving to this seaside resort this week for their annual summit.

``No one can escape this political declaration; it is an enormous step forward,'' she told reporters.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked if there was ``wiggle room'' in the declaration. ``There isn't going to be an agreement until there's an agreement that has America and China in it,'' he said. ``However, there is now a process to lead to that agreement and at its heart is a commitment to a substantial cut.''

``What does substantial mean? That serious consideration is given to the halving of emissions by 2050,'' Mr. Blair said. Still, he called the deal ``a major, major step forward.''

The statement also does not commit to Ms. Merkel's target under which global temperatures would be allowed to increase by no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before being brought back down