President George W. Bush on Wednesday proposed a target of stopping growth in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, delivering his opening shot in negotiations with the US Congress and international community about climate change. The target marked the most specific goal yet set by the Bush administration for curbing carbon emissions, but fell short of more aggressive targets set by European countries and proposed by Democrats in Congress. Mr Bush called for electric power plants to halt growth in emissions within 10-15 years and signalled his openness to legislative action to tackle global warming. But he voiced opposition to Senate proposals to halt US emissions growth by 2012, warning bad legislation risked "tremendous costs' to the economy. His proposals were made in a speech at the White House as representatives of the world's chief economies prepared to gather in Paris on Thursday for the latest in a series of US-led meetings intended to lay the ground for a fresh international deal on climate change. The Bush administration has engaged more in international debate about how to tackle global warming in recent months after years of footdragging. Wednesday's proposals were derided by critics as too little, too late. Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, described Mr Bush's speech as a "thinly disguised' attempt to derail more aggressive measures under consideration in Congress. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific panel set up to evaluate the risks posed by global warming, recommended last year global carbon emissions must peak by 2015-20 to avoid irreversible damage. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the IPCC, told the Financial Times this month that developed countries such as the US must take on the lion's share of efforts to reduce emissions, which would require the US to make an absolute cut within the next 10 years. The European Union's goal is to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. White House officials on Wednesday questioned whether that target was achievable. Mr Bush's more modest goal appeared likely to mark the start of negotiations between the White House and Congress and with foreign governments on compromise measures. He has vowed to support an international deal to succeed the Kyoto treaty when it expires in 2012