Leaders from the world's major industrialised nations will attempt to smooth over significant disagreements on global warming and various foreign policy issues during the upcoming G8 summit on the Baltic coast. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is hosting the annual Group of Eight meeting at the luxurious Kempinski Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm, has been diligently working for months to establish a foundation for progress in combating climate change at the summit. However, her efforts appear to be in vain following US President George W. Bush's recent announcement of a climate strategy that diverges from the approach favored by Merkel and other Europeans. Merkel has emphasized that global efforts to address climate change should be led by the United Nations, rather than individual countries or groups of countries, and has acknowledged that the summit will be challenging. "We will continue to grapple with climate change up until the last minute," Merkel stated in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine. It will be evident that there are varying perspectives since certain elements may not make it into the final document. Due to the lack of agreement on climate issues, the German hosts are likely to redirect the focus of the June 6-8 meeting to Africa. G8 countries are facing criticism for not meeting promises made at a summit in Scotland two years ago to help combat poverty in Africa, but they are expected to reaffirm commitments to double development aid by 2010. In addition, the G8 countries, consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States, will announce plans to increase funding for AIDS prevention in Africa. However, disagreements on major global issues may overshadow areas of agreement, even if leaders manage to avoid public disputes. Controversial foreign policy issues include the US plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe and efforts by the US and Europe to grant effective independence to Kosovo, a breakaway Serbian province. Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly opposes both issues, leading to concerns of a potential confrontation with US President Bush. However, recent gestures of friendship from Bush towards Putin, such as referring to him as a "friend" and inviting him to his family home in Maine, suggest efforts to ease tensions between the two leaders. Despite their disagreements, experts believe that they will agree to disagree on many major issues. 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 prefer to avoid major confrontation. Bush, who caused a stir at the 2006 summit with an unexpected backrub for Merkel, still has 1-1/2 years left in office. However, the upcoming G8 summit in Heiligendamm will be the last for Tony Blair and possibly Putin, who plans to step down next year. New leaders such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Shinzo Abe will be attending. The informal meetings of the world's top industrial powers began in 1975 in Rambouillet, France, following an oil crisis and the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. The club, which represents a large portion of global growth but a small fraction of the population, is now being criticized for its perceived irrelevance and is being pressured to adapt to a shift in the global economic balance. In response to these concerns, Merkel has invited leaders from Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa to participate this year. The landscape has changed significantly since world leaders first convened, with events such as the 9/11 attacks and protests at summits altering the dynamic of these meetings. German police clashed with hundreds of protesters on Saturday in Rostock, after a peaceful demonstration. The protesters set fire to cars, threw bottles, and torched bins in the port. During the three-day meeting, up to 16,000 German security personnel will be on duty to protect leaders, who will be sealed off from tens of thousands of demonstrators by a 12-kilometre fence.