Development aid pointless without western action on climate change

Efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa will fail unless urgent action is taken to halt climate change, a coalition of aid and environment groups claims, according this report from the BBC.

The Working Group on Climate Change and Development says the G8 nations have so far failed to "join the dots" between climate change and Africa. The group's concerns are echoed in a separate report from the UK's leading body of scientists, the Royal Society.

So the American government's response?

President Bush has rejected any Kyoto-style deal at the G8 Summit of the world's most prominent leaders. The Bush administration has gone to great strides to criticize, block or otherwise attack others' efforts to fight climate change, but it has offered precious little of its own.