George W Bush has sparked anger and raised the prospect of a deep rift with Europe after he declared his "unequivocal" opposition to the Kyoto accords.

"[It] makes no economic sense. It makes no common sense," he said.

The climate change row came as the US president met German chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, who is in coalition with Greens. Schroder told Bush that America must accept responsibility for the planet's climate and described the resulting exchange as "frank".

America's opposition now puts the future of the controversial Kyoto Treaty in jeopardy. Whilst no major European nation has ratified the treaty so far, EU states believe it would be the best framework for tackling climate change.

The threat to the treaty has been described as "exceptionally serious" by environment minister, Michael Meacher.

Ruling out the possibility of trade sanctions against the economic superpower, Meacher said that the UK and EU should still go ahead with plans to ratify the accords in 2002.