Europe's plans to fight climate change are at risk of unravelling amid the global credit crunch, with calls for expensive targets to be axed.

Italy and Poland have called for tough environmental targets to be dropped as government finances across the EU come under pressure.

Their suggestion came at an EU summit at which Prime Minister Gordon Brown won full backing for sweeping plans to reshape the international financial regime.

The G8 group of major industrialised nations backed his "Bretton Woods"-style conference on the financial crisis, probably before the end of the year.

Mr Brown, backed by France, Germany and the European Commission, told the summit in Brussels that EU pledges to cut carbon emissions must not be compromised despite the turmoil.

But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insisted Italy would veto summit conclusions reaffirming the green commitment unless his concerns on finance were dealt with.

He warned the targets had become unattainable because of crashing markets and imminent recession.

Poland - another EU country with long-standing reservations about the climate change aims - also expressed deep reluctance to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, as all EU governments have promised.

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Paul Brennan, Head of our Energy team, comments:

At present far from vacillating the UK Government is fiercely resisting pressure to renege on international commitments with respect to greenhouse gasses and related energy targets. Indeed, in a statement to Parliament the day after the EU summit, Ed Miliband, the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, committed the UK to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050.