Delicate ecosystems were swamped by oil from the Prestige

The sinking of the Prestige "demonstrated that the existing rules on tanker safety and pollution prevention need to be further improved", a statement said at the end of the ministers' three-day meeting in Paris.

The talks were moved from the French provincial town of Angers to the capital on security grounds as environmental protesters gathered there.

Correspondents note that the talks skirted differences between Europe and the United States on climate change, omitting any reference to the Kyoto Protocol - the United Nations' pact on global warming - in its closing statement.

The Prestige went down off the Spanish province of Galicia with a cargo of 77,000 tonnes of oil, which is still leaking into the Atlantic, polluting the shoreline as far away as south-western France.

Previous statements have always mentioned Kyoto

Ministers backed calls for the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to require the tanker industry to set up additional funds to compensate victims of oil spillages and settle claims for environmental damage.

They also urged IMO member states "to work towards... accelerating the phasing out" of old-fashioned single-hulled tankers which are seen as a major pollution hazard.

Modern double-hulled tankers are much safer but they are more expensive.

Without referring to Kyoto by name, the statement made an unspecified pledge to "reduce greenhouse gas emissions" to help achieve "the ultimate objective" of its parent treaty, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Oil-dependent America rejects Kyoto mainly on grounds of economic cost whilst Russia has been delaying its ratification.

Iraq appeal

In another development, the head of the UN Environment Programme urged the G8 to support sending a fact-finding mission to Iraq in order to assess its environmental problems after years of mismanagement and war.

The country is suffering from water stress, air pollution from burning oil wells and oil-filled trenches, collapsing water and sanitation systems and mounting piles of rubbish and medical waste.

"These are very severe environment problems," Klaus Toepfer later told a news conference.

The G8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States along with Russia, whose membership is seen as owing more to political than economic reasons.

China has been invited to attend a G8 summit in June, again in France, which is expected to concentrate on development issues.

About 3,000 anti-globalisation and green protesters rallied in Angers on Saturday against G8 policies. The event passed off peacefully.