Climate e-mails don't affect US
2009-12-06 21:23
London - The US ambassador to Britain told the BBC in an interview on Sunday that the row over leaked e-mails from a key English climate research unit had had no effect on Washington's position on global warming.
Louis Susman said US President Barack Obama was committed to reforms at the Copenhagen summit on climate change.
Leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, a world leader in the field, sparked claims that scientists were trying to suppress data which did not support the view that climate change is happening.
"There's no pick-up in our country. Our position is solid in what we believe is the need to change, that this is caused by human behaviour. I don't see it having any effect in the US," Susman said.
The December 7-18 UN-led talks in Copenhagen are aimed at forging a new pact to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and their impact after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
Obama is due to join the end of the talks after rearranging his plans. He is also expected in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Thursday to collect his Nobel Peace Prize.
"He thinks it's not only a social and economic problem, but it's a moral issue to him," Susman said.
"I think he made the decision that he could be more effective in his leadership in the closing stages than in the early stages, which we were originally trying to co-ordinate with his trip to Oslo.
"It should be a telling sign to the world that he's serious."
On whether a deal could be struck in the Danish capital, Susman said: "I believe so. It isn't going to be a treaty at this point but I think it's the first step towards a treaty. So I think that the Danish initiative to do this has been well received and it's a great beginning step."
Susman said he thought Europe, China and the US were broadly in agreement on what needed to be done.
"I think we're working towards that, we've been encouraged by the actions of the Chinese, the Indian nation and Brazil, which are major leaders. We need them in this area. So we are very confident that something meaningful will come out of Copenhagen," he said.