July 4 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush ruled out any accord on climate change at the Group of Eight summit that involves limiting carbon emissions as a threat to the U.S. economy.

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is hosting leaders of the largest industrial nations in Gleneagles, Scotland July 6-8, is seeking agreements to cut poverty in Africa and curb climate change, which he describes as the single greatest threat facing the world. Blair is asking G-8 partners to recognize the science of climate change and wants a plan to deal with the problem, according to his representative at pre-summit talks in London over the weekend.

When he was elected president in 2000, Bush rejected the 1997 Kyoto treaty that sets targets for developed nations to reduce emissions of gases linked to global warming. He said any similar proposal this week would be rejected.

``If (the proposal) looks like Kyoto, the answer is no,'' Bush said in an interview with ITV Plc's ``Tonight'' program to be broadcast later today, according to a transcript released in advance. ``If people want to come together and share technologies and develop technologies and jointly spend money on research and development, just like the U.S. is, to help us diversify away from fossil fuels, (I am) more than willing to discuss it.''

Michael Jay, Blair's representative at the weekend meeting, told journalists in London today that the talks were ``extremely difficult'' and refused to rule out a statement on climate change that excludes the U.S.

`Action Plan'

``The key question is how to reconcile the need to curb emissions with the need for economic growth,'' Jay said. ``The ideal is to have an action plan but also agreement on reasons for the action plan. We've got 48 hours to go and the last 48 hours of negotiations are often the most difficult, but I sense a desire to reach agreement.''

The U.S. has gone some way toward meeting calls for it to agree to the science of global warming, something Jay described as ``the most difficult issue.''

``We know that the surface of the Earth is warmer, and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem,'' a statement from Bush's office said Friday. ``Though there have been past disagreements about the best way to address this issue, we are acting to help developing countries adopt new energy sources.''

Bush said there was no question of Blair, his closest ally in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, asking favors for support.

``I go to the G-8 not really trying to make him look bad or good,'' Bush said of Blair in the ITV interview. ``I go to the G- 8 with an agenda that I think is best for our country.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 4, 2005 12:12 EDT