Things are heating up in London as some of the world’s most important political leaders get ready for the G20 meeting. Amid discussions of economic woe, fireworks, meals cooked by celebrity chefs and threats to walk out if they don’t get what they want, they may spare some time to discuss scientific issues.

There are certainly some who would like them to consider climate change. Leading climate experts want economic stimulus measures tied in to green issues (see yesterday’s Nature story: Stern message for G20 summit).

A group of environmental protestors are planning to set up a ‘climate camp’ outside the building where carbon dioxide emissions are traded in London to protest about the prominence of climate change in the meeting negotiations.

“At a time of climate crisis their response to the market meltdown is emergency loans to car manufacturers, increased spending to encourage consumption, and bailouts for the very people who got us into this mess – just the thing that will make the climate crisis worse,” says the website of the 2009 Climate Camp.

Robert Watson, chief scientific adviser for the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says “I think it [low-carbon recovery] deserves a higher profile. Everybody seems to be focusing on short-term recovery and getting long-term regulation of the banks right. I haven’t heard anything that suggests the green recovery and climate change are a major part of the [G20] agenda.” (Guardian.)

But UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband insists the issue is of high importance. “One of the remarkable things that our Prime Minister has achieved since the Washington summit is to broaden the agenda, so that it’s not just about finance. It’s about the economy and about low carbon,” he says (London Evening Standard).