One European diplomat described the U.S. meeting as a spoiler for a U.N. conference planned for Bali in December. Another, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the U.S. conference was merely a way of deflecting pressure from other world leaders who had asked at the G8 summit this year for the U.S. to make concessions on global warming.

They predicted that Mr Bush, who is to address the meeting, will stress the need to make technological advances that can help combat climate change but will reject mandatory caps on emissions.

There is frustration among European governments with the lack of urgency on the part of the Bush administration. The British assessment of Mr Bush’s conference is reflected in the level of representation — Phil Woolas, a junior Environment Minister.

Mr Bush invited 15 countries, plus all E.U. members.

The highest-ranking representative from outside the U.S. is German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. He said on Wednesday he did not expect the U.S. or other nations attending the conference to budge. “One cannot expect concrete results.”

“Political game”

One of those attending said the conference reflected “political hardball” on the part of the Bush administration, aimed at undermining the U.N., for which it holds long-term suspicion. Another said the conference was aimed at domestic politics, with Mr Bush seeking headlines and television coverage implying that he was doing something about climate change. There was criticism too from within the U.S. Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, described the conference as “a sidelight, not a process that leads to anything”. He accused the White House of seeking “an alternative to a binding treaty ... you’re seeing the Bush administration make this up as they go along.”

European diplomats say they detect a change in recent months in the Bush administration, with some — though not necessarily Mr Bush — accepting that humans are responsible for climate change. But they add that this has not so far turned into a willingness to abandon resistance to mandatory limits on emissions or reliance on fossil fuels. Connie Hedegard, the Danish Environment Minister, who is attending the conference, told members of Congress that she and other European leaders “are getting a bit impatient, not on our own behalf, but on behalf of the planet”.

She added: “We need the support of the U.S. China, India and the other industrialising countries, they will not do anything unless the U.S. is moving.” John Ashton, the special envoy of British Foreign Secretary David Milliband, told the U.N. Foundation that he and others would judge the conference on whether it produced a concrete commitment rather than a voluntary pledge.

At the Clinton Global Initiative conference, Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida, joined Bill Clinton to announce plans to build a solar power plant as part of a $2.4-billion clean energy programme. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007