Obama urges action on climate

2009-11-17 14:42

Beijing - US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he wants key climate talks in Copenhagen during December to agree on a comprehensive new deal which has "immediate operational effect", even if it is not legally binding.

Speaking after a bilateral meeting with Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, Obama also said that the world's top two carbon emitters had also committed to take "significant" action to mitigate their output of carbon dioxide.

"Our aim there...is not a partial accord or a political declaration but rather an accord that covers all of the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect," Obama said of the Copenhagen talks.

The December summit was slated to settle a new framework to tackle global warming, but talks have been hobbled by a rift between developed and developing nations over who should cut emissions, by how much, and who should pay for it.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen flew to Singapore at the weekend to present a gathering of Asia Pacific leaders, including Obama, with his last-ditch bid to dispel growing gloom about the talks.

He proposed that the world delay a legally binding climate pact until 2010 or later and aim for a political deal first.

- Reuters