Though it is the first time that Bush has acknowledged a need for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, his proposals as yet lack solid detail. Significantly, the concept of a global carbon market does not feature in his plans.

Though Bush called on the world’s most polluting nations, including India and China, to form a framework for a 2012 post-Kyoto climate change agreement, he rejected putting caps on emissions.

At a White House press briefing following the speech, Jim Connaughton