Senior officials from G8 countries were last night locked in intensive talks on climate change and details of aid for Africa at a London meeting laying the ground for next week's Gleneagles summit.

Environmental campaigners warned that US intransigence would prevent agreement on meaningful action to tackle global warming, despite a statement from the White House implying that its position was closer to other G8 states than had previously been thought.

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The US faces a rift with the other G8 members because it objects to crucial parts of a joint communique being prepared, including a section which reads: "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge ... There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring and that human activity is contributing to this warming."

In a fact sheet issued yesterday, the Bush administration stated: "We know the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem."