Danish PM: Industrial countries must bring specific pledges to Copenhagen climate conference

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Denmark seeks specific pledges at climate talks

COPENHAGEN — Denmark’s premier indicated Tuesday he expected the United States to bring specific pledges to cut greenhouse gases to next month’s climate change conference.

Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said President Barack Obama supported his proposal for a sweeping political deal in Copenhagen covering all essential elements, including commitments by industrial countries to reduce carbon emissions and to provide funds for less developed countries to fight the effects of global warming.

“Also the American president endorsed our approach, implying that all developed countries will need to bring strong reduction targets to the negotiating table in Copenhagen,” Loekke Rasmussen told top negotiators from 44 key countries preparing for the U.N. conference in the Danish capital.

Loekke Rasmussen’s remarks appeared to ratchet up the pressure on Obama, who has been reluctant to move too far ahead of slow-moving domestic climate legislation, for fear of delivering international promises that could later be countermanded by Congress. The Senate will debate its climate and energy bill only next year.

In Beijing, Obama said he also wanted an all-encompassing agreement in Copenhagen, even if it falls short of a legal treaty.

“Our aim there, in support of what Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark is trying to achieve, 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,” he said after meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Obama said the agreement would be an important step in efforts to “rally the world around a solution” to global warming. “And we agreed that each of us would take significant mitigation actions and stand behind these commitments,” he said.

European officials welcomed the remarks as a sign Obama was willing to bring specific numbers to Copenhagen.

“He says it very loud and clear that we must deliver on all elements of the negotiations,” Danish Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard said. She noted, however, that the U.S. hasn’t presented any figures yet.

Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said Obama’s comments showed he backs Loekke Rasmussen’s plans for a political deal, including immediate financing to stop deforestation and help the poorest countries fight the consequences of climate change.

“Quick measures may also include emission cuts, but it hasn’t been specified what Obama means on that point,” said Carlgren, whose country currently holds the presidency of the 27-nation European Union.

Some parts of the agreement will have to be carried out long before a full treaty is negotiated and ratified. Among them is a proposal to provide $10 billion or more annually to developing countries over the next three years.

Loekke Rasmussen also wants pledges of long-term financing, likely to exceed $100 billion a year from 2020.

“We need numbers on the table in Copenhagen,” Loekke Rasmussen told a closed meeting of negotiators who ended a two-day consultation Tuesday.

The Copenhagen accord is meant to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set emissions targets for 37 industrialized countries. The U.S. rejected Kyoto since it made no demands of rapidly growing economies.

South Korea — which did not have to cut emissions under Kyoto — announced its first greenhouse gas reduction target Tuesday, pledging to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases by 4 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

The voluntary target-setting could put pressure on developed nations to act more aggressively to fight global warming.

Ambitions for Copenhagen have been scaled back in recent months, as negotiators acknowledged that divisions between rich and poor countries are too deep and the technical details too complex to complete a full treaty this year.

But Loekke Rasmussen said Copenhagen must end in a deal covering all the essential political elements.

“Copenhagen should neither be a stopover nor a tiny stepping stone, as some proclaim,” he said.

The agreement “should be concrete and binding on countries committing to reach targets,” he said.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the summit would be high on her new Cabinet’s agenda.

“We need to do everything in our power to swiftly come to a binding agreement, even if it is not possible to achieve this in Copenhagen, it cannot be put off indefinitely,” said Merkel who will be among more than 40 heads of government attending the final sessions of the Dec. 7-18 conference.

The Danes want to set a deadline for the final text — possibly at talks set for December 2010 in Mexico City.

“The stronger our politically binding agreement in Copenhagen, the faster the progress toward a new legally binding, global climate regime,” Loekke Rasmussen said.

Associated Press writers Arthur Max in Amsterdam, Melissa Eddy in Berlin, Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.