But environmentalists and emerging countries slammed the deal as a fudged compromise that promised too little too late. For starters, no base year was included in the proposal - so it’s unclear whether emissions would be cut from 2008, 1990, or any other random year’s level. More significantly, the G8 leaders also failed to agree an interim target to cut emissions by 2020. The big emerging economies of China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa want the G8 countries to reduce their emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, with a medium target of at least a cut of 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

Climate campaigners were similarly underwhelmed. “Setting a vague target for 42 years’ time is utterly ineffectual in the face of the global catastrophe we face,” warned Friends of the Earth. “Urgent action is needed to tackle climate change and spiraling energy prices caused by our addiction to increasingly expensive and insecure fossil fuels.”

Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists believed that no significant agreement could be made until after the next US election. “President Bush and the Europeans just have a totally different worldview,” he sighed. “Whether it’s President McCain or President Obama, he will be more in synch with the Europeans.” Barack Obama has committed to an emissions reduction of 80 per cent, while even his redneck rival John McCain has agreed to a 60 per cent cut.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has been urging Brits to do their bit by cutting down on food waste. While it’s true that the average UK family chucks out more than £400 of perfectly good grub every year, the PM’s demands sound uncomfortably pious when one considers the smorgasbord he and his chums tucked into on the G8’s opening night. The eight-course feast boasted no fewer than dishes including caviar, smoked salmon and a G8 “fantasy dessert”. This followed a more modest working lunch of a mere six courses consisting of such staple fare as truffle soup and crab.