President Obama now plans to attend the end of the United Nations-led Copenhagen climate change treaty talks as the administration said it believed progress was "being made toward a meaningful Copenhagen accord," Reuters reported. "The president believes that continued U.S. leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the publication wrote.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen applauded the change, with Rasmussen calling it "an expression of the growing political momentum toward sealing an ambitious climate deal in Copenhagen." The Obama administration declared that "the United States will pay its fair share" into a $10-billion annual fund for climate change mitigation in developing countries and also address long-term funding, the New York Times reported. The European Commission had proposed at least a $33-billion annual fund.
U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern said the Obama administration was "not focusing on a 2020 number" for GHG emissions levels but a sense of what the "aggregate number should be from developed countries." Obama had previously proposed a 17-percent cut in U.S. 2005 emissions levels by 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported that Stern said the administration would not propose an annual funding level as Europe had, but he stressed the need for transparent emissions pledges by developing countries.
The Obama administration stated of the scheduling change: "There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the president's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome."
- Related stories also appeared in Wall Street Journal, Xinhua, Dec. 5; CNN, New York Times Green Inc. blog, Washington Post, Dec. 4.
