Leaders from the world's major industrialised nations will gather on the Baltic coast this week for a G8 summit, where they will attempt to address deep divisions on global warming and foreign policy issues. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is hosting the annual meeting at the Kempinski Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm, has been working tirelessly to make progress in the fight against climate change. However, her efforts may be in vain following US President George W. Bush's recent announcement of a climate strategy that differs from the approach favored by Merkel and other Europeans. Merkel has emphasized the importance of the United Nations taking the lead in global efforts to combat climate change, acknowledging that the summit will be challenging. She anticipates that discussions on climate change will continue until the very end of the summit. There are differing opinions on whether some things will be included in the final document. The German hosts of the June 6-8 meeting are looking to shift the focus to Africa due to the lack of a climate consensus. G8 countries, facing criticism for not meeting promises to fight poverty in Africa, are expected to reaffirm commitments to double development aid by 2010. The club, consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States, will also announce plans to increase funds for combating AIDS in Africa. However, disagreements on global issues may overshadow areas of agreement, even if leaders avoid public disputes. Controversial foreign policy issues include US plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe and efforts by the United States and Europe to grant effective independence to Kosovo, a breakaway Serbian province. Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly opposes both initiatives, leading to concerns of a potential clash with President Bush. However, recent gestures of friendship, such as Bush referring to Putin as a "friend" and inviting him to his family home in Maine, suggest an attempt to ease tensions. Despite their differences, experts believe that on many major issues, they will simply agree to disagree. Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, noted this approach. The Europeans understand that significant changes to US foreign and climate change policy will not happen until a new president is in office, so they are trying to avoid any major confrontation. Bush, who surprised Merkel with a backrub at the 2006 summit in St. Petersburg, still has 1-1/2 years left in office. However, Heiligendamm will mark the final G8 summit for Tony Blair and possibly Putin, who plans to step down next year. Newcomers to the summit include French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The informal meetings of the world's top industrial powers have been taking place since 1975, when the G6 (which later became the G7 and then the G8) met in Rambouillet, France to coordinate economic policy after a global oil crisis and the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Now the club, which represents almost two-thirds of global growth but only about one-eighth of the population, is being criticized for its lack of relevance and is being urged to adjust to a shift in the global economic balance. In response to these concerns, Merkel has invited the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa this year. The emergence of new economic powers is not the only thing that has changed since world leaders first met three decades ago. As recently as 1999, during Germany's last G8 summit, heads of government were seen mingling with locals in the streets of Cologne. However, the events of the Sept. 11 attacks, clashes between anti-globalisation protesters and police at a 2001 summit in Genoa, and bombings in London during the 2005 summit have altered this dynamic. German police had confrontations with hundreds of protesters in Rostock on Saturday, where cars were set on fire, bottles were thrown, and bins were torched following a larger peaceful demonstration. The port will be heavily guarded by up to 16,000 German security personnel during the three-day meeting, with leaders being separated from tens of thousands of demonstrators by a 12-kilometre fence.