Prescott: "The children of tomorrow will not forgive us"

After 10 years of talking, ministers are keen for action.

Britain's John Prescott said: "We need to keep striving for that consensus... or the world today and the children of tomorrow will not forgive us."

The New York summit was called by Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, the UN leader on climate change negotiations.

He said on Wednesday that Washington appeared to have toned down its criticism of Kyoto and that its description of the treaty as "dead" may have been premature.

Leaked memo

He said the US might trade a commitment to plant forests as carbon sinks or buy carbon credits from other nations instead of reducing its emissions to the levels demanded by Kyoto.

Mr Pronk has also said the treaty could be implemented without US participation if it is ratified by 55 countries which produce 55% of global greenhouse emissions.

Bush: Kyoto targets will harm US economy

But further concerns about the US position arose on Friday when a State Department memo was leaked.

The memo, issued on 1 April, states that Washington opposes the Kyoto pact "under any circumstances".

It came days after President George W Bush said the treaty would "seriously harm" the US economy.

The memo suggests the US Government considers climate change solutions based only on market forces and improved technology.

Such a "cavalier attitude" left other countries no choice but to press ahead without the US, said Jennifer Morgan, director of the World Wildlife Fund's climate change campaign.

US emissions rising

The treaty was first agreed in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 though details continue to be negotiated.

It broadly calls for industrialised nations to cut emissions to an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012.

The US emits about a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases - a rate nearly 15% above its levels in 1990.