"Climate Talks Make Progress, Pressure on U.S"

"COPENHAGEN -- Environment ministers made progress on Tuesday toward a scaled-down climate deal in Copenhagen next month, with Washington facing pressure to promise deep cuts by 2020 in greenhouse gas emissions.

'We still need more movement,' Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference at the end of two days of talks among 40 ministers from around the world on a deal meant to be agreed at the December 7-18 meeting in Denmark.

'Industrialized countries must raise their targets and financial commitments further...I look to the United States for a numerical mid-term target and a clear commitment on finance,' he told a news conference.

The United States is the second greenhouse gas emitter behind China but U.S. carbon-capping legislation is stalled in the U.S. Senate. Many nations say that Washington should promise a deep 2020 cut to help unlock a deal in Copenhagen."

Alister Doyle and Anna Ringstrom report for Reuters November 17, 2009.

See Also:

"New US-China Energy Agreement Aims for '21st Century Coal'" (SolveClimate)
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20091117/new-us-china-energy-agreement-aims...

"U.S., China May Come To Talks With Emission-Reduction Goals" (Washington Post)

"Obama Makes Surprising Progress in China" (Grist)

"Rumors of Copenhagen’s Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" (Grist)