Top officials from industrialized countries and from major emerging economies such as Brazil, India and China have begun two days of talks in London on ways of reducing global warming.
British Finance Minister Gordon Brown told the gathering Tuesday that failure to develop environment-friendly policies could create international economic problems. Mr. Brown reaffirmed his government's call for cutting so-called "greenhouse gas" emissions -- which scientists say are a major factor in global warming.
However, the officials are not expected to discuss or set targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Such targets are a major part of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, an international treaty which the United States, the world's largest economy, is not a party.
A U.S. delegate at the meeting said the United States supports channeling resources into environment-friendly technologies.