As leaders of the world's Group of Eight industrialized nations gather in Scotland, pop star Bono implored them to exceed expectations in their plan to tackle global poverty.

Joined by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and fellow musician-turned-activist Bob Geldof at a press conference on Wednesday, the U2 frontman said leaders must seize the opportunity presented by their annual get-together.

"Could we have an agreement, for instance, to take 14 or 15 countries in Africa and put people in schools?" Bono asked, suggesting such an agreement would be "extraordinary."

"Could we deal with the fact that 3,000 Africans, mostly kids, die every day of a mosquito bite," he added.

"That can be achieved in the next 48 hours, that's what we're going to be working on."

Bono's comments come as G-8 leaders converge on the exclusive Scottish golf resort Gleneagles for their yearly summit.

Ahead of the official three-day meeting, however, aides have already begun discussing two items summit host Blair has put at the top of the agenda: climate change and aid to the world's most impoverished nations.

On the issue of poverty, G-8 leaders are expected to endorse a deal their finance ministers reached in June -- to wipe out $40 billion in debt owed to the World Bank by 18 of the world's poorest countries.

But Blair faces a considerable challenge convincing other leaders to boost aid to 0.7 per cent of their gross economic output by 2015.

Martin has agreed to double Canada's foreign aid by 2008-09. That would still fall short of the 0.7 per cent target, but Martin says he cannot promise more without compromising his government's fiscal responsibility.

The prime minister has also said believes any plan to help the poorest nations must also focus on good governance, greater commercial exchange and changes to agriculture policy.

U.S. President George Bush has expressed similar sentiments, saying repeatedly he won't dole out cash with no strings attached.

"I don't know how we can look our taxpayers in the eye and say, this is a good deal to give money to countries that are corrupt," Bush said during a stop in Denmark on the way to Scotland.

"We want to make sure that the governments invest in their people, invest in the health of their people, the education of their people and fight corruption."

There remains hope for compromise, however, after Bush vowed last week to increase U.S. support for Africa to more than $8.6 billion US by 2010. Although that increase falls short of the 0.7 per cent target, it is double the $4.3 billion US the United States provided last year.

On the topic of global warming, however, opportunity for a compromise appears much more slim.

U.S. officials are said to be intensely lobbying other delegates against setting any specific timelines for the reduction of the greenhouse gases linked to climate change.

Instead, there is a word the summit might produce consensus that recognizes the problem and the need to do something about it.

"Obviously, accepting the validity of the science is the first step toward dealing with the issue,'' Martin told the Canadian Press during his visit to Ireland Tuesday, promising to press the issue "forcefully" with his American counterpart.

"I intend to make the point and I'll make the point very forcefully in terms of the science.'"

But Martin and other like-minded leaders are expected to face an uphill battle, as Bush remains the only G-8 leader who has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.S. disagrees with other wealthy nations over the severity of global warming and on how much humans are to blame for the problem.

But for the second time this week, during his Denmark stopover Bush signalled his softening stance on the issue.

Talking to reporters at a news conference in Copenhagen with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Bush acknowledged that "the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem."

Bush made similar comments in a British TV interview Monday, but has stood firm on his refusal to set mandatory emission reduction targets.

"I think there's a better way forward," the president said. "I would call it the post-Kyoto era, where we can work together to share technologies."

Before the G-8 conference is over, U.S., Canadian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian leaders are also expected to discuss world oil prices, the situation in Iraq, the Middle East peace process and the nuclear ambitions of both Iran and North Korea.

The Group of Eight leaders will also sit down with their counterparts from Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and several African countries.

Despite the summit's intense focus on such pressing global issues, the British and French leaders might very well have food on their minds.

Tension between the two countries was raised in recent days, after French President Jacques Chirac was overheard making an off-colour remark.

During a meeting with the leaders of Germany and Russia, he cracked jokes about British cuisine.

"You can't trust people who cook as badly as that," he said. He added that "the only thing the British have done for European agriculture is mad cow disease."

Relations between France and the U.K. were already tense; the two leaders have blamed each other for the failure of recent talks on the European Union's long-term budget talks.