G7 summit: Merkel urges leaders to agree on tough climate change goals

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged G7 leaders to commit to tough new measures to cut greenhouse gases at the group's annual summit in Bavaria.

At the top of the agenda on the third and final day of the summit was climate change, with Merkel imploring leaders to agree to goals to cut emissions ahead of the United Nations climate change meeting in Paris at the end of 2015.

She urged leaders at the first work session on Monday 8 June to agree to keep temperatures within 2C of pre-industrial levels.

Merkel was supported by French President Francois Hollande, who called on nations to end dependence on fossil fuels by the mid-21st century, and for measures to enable developing countries to make the transition to environmentally sustainable energy sources.

"Commitments must be made at this G7. For the moment, the communique is going in the right direction," the French president told reporters.

The summit of seven of the world's leading economies is being held in the Schloss Elmau hotel at the foot of the Wetterstein mountains.