WORLD leaders wrapped up their three day summit here with a global communique covering virtually every political and economic issue and incorporating full Russian participation in their annual meetings for the first time.
Under the heading of "Political Issues", the appointment of the President, Mrs Robinson, as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was mentioned, with the leaders saying that she "will have a crucial role to play" in "ensuring accountability for violations of human rights".
The presence of President Boris Yeltsin for all the sessions except a brief discussion on financial stability meant that what used to be known as the Group of Seven or G-7 summits will in future be the Summit of the Eight.
The Denver summit was a considerable triumph for Mr Yeltsin as he was able to announce the entry of Russia into the Paris Club, which handles the debt of developing countries. Mr Yeltsin also said that he now expects that Russia will be able to join the World Trade Organisation later this year.
US officials, delighted with the success of the summit, have hailed the Russian membership of the Paris Club as "the end of the economic Cold War". President Clinton, as host to the summit, went out of his way to treat Mr Yeltsin as an equal partner although the Russian economy would be seen as struggling compared with those of the US, Japan and Germany, for example. The final statement said that integrating Russia's economy into the global economic system "represents one of our most important priorities".
Much of the final communique had been already agreed by the senior officials called "sherpas who have spent the past year preparing for the summit but the eight leaders had a number of problems to solve before it could be released. There was a clash between the US and European countries on the section dealing with the environment, where the targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions led to the "most difficult discussions" of the summit, according to the German Chancellor, Dr Kohl.
The French President, Mr Chirac, called the US the greatest polluter in the world.
The Germans, supported by most of the European countries, pressed for implementation of the emission targets set by the Rio conference in 1992 but the US supported by Japan, is calling for a "pragmatic and realistic approach" and refusing to make firm commitments.
On Hong Kong, the wishes of Britain and the US to have stronger language on the need to protect human rights were thwarted by Japan with support from France and other countries which wanted to avoid irritating China. The communique emphasises "our durable interests in this financial and economic centre" and in bland language states: "We look forward to democratic elections in Hong Kong for a new legislature as soon as possible.
On Bosnia, a strong message was given to the Serbian leaders that the Dayton Accord would have to be fully implemented. There was a threat that aid would be cut off if this did not happen. The US also pressed strongly for greater efforts by all the countries with a military presence in Bosnia to ensure respect for the accord.
The summit communique speaks of the international community maintaining a long term commitment in Bosnia when the present NATO force's mission ends next June but the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, denied reports that this meant US forces would remain.
The leaders, at the US's request, also discussed human cloning and whether they should agree on banning such a procedure following the cloning of a sheep in Scotland. The brief reference in the communique indicates that a ban would be desirable.
The leaders also reported progress in cooperation in combating "transnational organised crime" and "illicit trafficking in nuclear material". They said they had agreed on "practical extradition" measures and would "target the organised criminal groups" involved in the "illegal smuggling of people across our borders".
At French prompting, there is a strong passage on the dangers to the Middle East peace process, which "faces a crisis". The summit leaders say they are "determined to reinject momentum into it". "Restoring the sense of security and confidence among Israelis and Palestinians is essential," the communique says.
Iran, Iraq and Libya are urged to renounce aiding international terrorism and are threatened with the continuation of sanctions if they do not desist. There are also passages dealing with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Cyprus, Albania, Afghanistan, Korean Peninsula, Cambodia and Myanmar.
On the question of anti personnel landmines, the leaders hope that an international ban on their use and production can be achieved before the end of the year through negotiations to begin in Oslo in September.
On the economic and social fronts, the communique notes that "globalisation may create new challenges". The increasing openness and interdependence of their economies, with deep trade linkages and ever greater flows of private capital means that problems in one country can spill over more easily to affect the rest.
The leaders said they remained "committed to sustaining non inflationary growth and contributing to world prosperity". They would also work "to create jobs, restore sound public finances and meet the challenge of the ageing of our populations".
The need to address unemployment and economic insecurity was emphasised. The proposal by Britain to host a ministerial conference on growth, employability and inclusion early next year was welcomed.
For the first time in some years, the finance ministers outline steps for each of the participants to strengthen their economies. Thus Japan was urged to avoid increasing its external trade surplus and France, Germany and Italy to restore growth in employment.
The President of the EU Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, gave the summit an account of the EU summit in Amsterdam and the outlook for EMU. In a lengthy statement on Africa, the leaders said they were "encouraged by positive developments, including the adoption of democratic and economic reforms in SubSaharan African countries". They said they would support African efforts to promote democracy and good governance, improve the integrity of public institutions, enhance the transparency of government spending, in particular of procurement, and develop national anti bribery regulations.
Mr Santer expressed some concern lest the communique's emphasis on trade and private investment would be at the expense of traditional aid.
. Britons must be prepared to make fundamental changes in their daily lives to help combat global warming, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is to say in a speech to be delivered today. Mr Blair was yesterday putting the finishing touches to the speech he will give to a UN environment conference in New York, called to take stock of progress made since the 1992 Earth Summit.
The US and Japan blocked a European attempt to write specific targets for cutbacks in emissions into the communique.