Obama to travel to Copenhagen climate summit

Nov 25, 2009, 16:21 GMT

A file photo dated 24 November 2009 showing US President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA. A White House official confirmed on 25 November 2009 that Obama would travel to Copenhagen in December 2009 for the United Nations meeting on climate change. EPA/SHAWN THEW

Washington - US President Barack Obama will be in Copenhagen during the early stages of a major UN summit on climate change, the White House said Wednesday.

The Obama administration also proposed cutting its domestic emissions 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 - the first mid-term target offered by the United States, but one that falls well below what is being sought by the European Union.

The White House said Obama will be in Copenhagen on December 9, the day before he receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. The visit was a sign of Obama's commitment to achieve a 'meaningful agreement' at the Copenhagen summit, which runs from December 7-18.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has urged world leaders to attend the summit in the hopes of hammering out a new global treaty that would curb greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

So far some 60 heads of state and government have said they planned to attend, according to the Danish government.

The White House would not say whether Obama might return to Copenhagen towards the end of the summit, when most other world leaders will be going. Other US administration officials will be present throughout the conference.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said in Germany that Obama's attendance at the summit would be 'decisive,' noting that the rest of the world was looking to see what the United States would do.

The Obama administration is under pressure to agree to tough new emissions cuts, but has been reluctant to commit because of stalled climate talks in the US Congress. The Senate will not pass climate legislation until next year.

The White House said the 17-per-cent emissions reduction target would be contingent on Congress approving similar legislation. The EU has pushed for cuts of as much as 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The US proposal 'demonstrates a significant contribution to a problem that the US has neglected for too long,' the White House said.

The United States also wants emerging powers like China and India to agree on their own cuts in climate-damaging pollution. But developing countries first want stronger commitments from industrial powers, who they argue bear historical responsibility for climate change.

Another major sticking point at the summit is how much money wealthy nations will give developing countries to help them combat climate change. The US has yet to propose a figure.