Berlin - Emerging economies should play a greater role in efforts to solve the world's most pressing problems, the leaders of Germany and Australia said Tuesday.

"The genuine forum to address these issues ought be the Group of 20," Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference after talks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Berlin.

The G20, which held its first summit in Washington last year and

met again in London in April, includes developing countries as well as emerging economies like China, India and Brazil.

"It does have credentials," said Rudd, pointing out that the group represents more than 80 per cent of the global economic strength as well as a large proportion of the world's trade and population.

"We believe that the G20 has real potential for the future," said Rudd, who stopped over in Germany on his way to attend the 17-nation Major Economies Forum in the earthquake-hit Italian town of L'Aquila.

The two leaders agreed that continued global leadership by the G20 was required for a clear and coordinated strategy for sustainable economic growth after the world emerges from the global slowdown.

Merkel is also travelling to L'Aquila for the annual meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations that begins on Wednesday.

The two leaders underlined the increasing urgency of finding a global solution to the threat of climate change, which is one of the main issues on the G8 agenda along with global economic crisis.

They said they planned to use the talks in L'Aquila to increase momentum towards a successful outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in the Danish capital Copenhagen in December.

"The economic cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of action," said Rudd, referring to efforts to reduce greenhouse house emissions in a successor to the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

They also noted the importance of technology and alternative energy solutions in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Merkel welcomed Australia's initiative in establishing a Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, of which Germany is a founding member.

Merkel and Rudd also pledged to continue cooperation in Afghanistan, where Germany and Australia both have deployed considerable numbers of troops to rebuild the country and fight the Taliban.

They said such a commitment was a necessary for global stability and security as well as for international efforts to combat the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.(dpa)