U.S. President Barack Obama has manged to strike a "meaningful agreement" for combating climate change with China, India and South Africa on the sidelines of the ongoing Climate Summit at the Danish capital city of Copenhagen, said a White House official on Friday.
The agreement came after Obama held discussions with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma. The deal was reportedly reached on the summit's final political statement, which was being finalized by high-ranking officials from over two-dozen countries.
Though the White House official admitted that the agreement reached Friday between the key states was not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change, it described the development as an important step in the right direction.
"No country is entirely satisfied with each element," the Obama administration official said, "but this is a meaningful and historic step forward and a foundation from which to make further progress."
He said that Obama's talks with the Indian, Chinese and South African leaders came amidst "significant differences between countries" in the climate negotiations. Some reports suggested that Obama joined the talks, virtually breaking into a meeting of the Chinese, Indian, South African and Brazilian leaders. It could not be independently confirmed.
According to the White House official, developed and developing countries have now agreed to "listing their national actions and commitments, a finance mechanism, to set a mitigation target of two degrees Celsius and to provide information on the implementation of their actions through national communications, with provisions for international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines."
Obama later at a press conference said that the agreement was just a start for further positive international actions in tackling climate change. He also thanked other world leaders for their help in hammering out the accord. He said: "This progress did not come easily, and we know that this progress alone is not enough."
Obama said he was leaving Copenhagen before a full and final vote on the agreement, expressing confidence that the world community was "moving in the direction of final accord." Obama indicated leaving for Washington before the final vote on the accord to ensure that the U.S. Congress approves his administration's commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gasses.
Currently, the U.S. commitment to reduction in emission of greenhouse gases is awaiting the approval of the Congress. It calls for 17% reduction in emission of greenhouse gases from the 2005 levels by 2020.
Though it is much lesser that the commitments made by EU, Japan and Russia, it was won after a hard fought battle in the Congress. The measure was approved in the House, but it is yet to be considered by the Senate. The failure of the bill to clear the Senate could hamper the ratification of any global treaty on the issue.
Following the agreement reached by the key countries in Copenhagen on the climate change issue, Democratic Senator John Kerry, who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and lead author of the Senate's climate change bill, expressed hopes that it will persuade the U.S. Congress to pass the climate change legislation by early next year.
"This can be a catalyzing moment," he said. "President Obama's hands-on engagement broke through the bickering and sets the stage for a final deal and for Senate passage this spring of major legislation at home."
Earlier in the day, the prospects of achieving a positive outcome from the Climate Summit appeared to wane after China and India briefly walked out of the conference, refusing to submit to international verification of their efforts to curb the emissions that cause global warming. Brazilian delegation led by President Lula da Silva also joined the walkout on the final day of the summit, extending support to the stand taken by China and India.
The move was dye to an umbrella clause in a draft proposal of the summit's final political statement circulated by by Denmark, which reportedly outlines a goal of providing US$10 billion a year in quick start funds for developing nations from 2010-12, lifting it until the US$100 billion goal is achieved by 2020.
The walkout was apparently over differences between the rich and developing countries on the quantum of emission cuts and financial aid to poorer countries for tackling the effects of climate change. The developing countries wanted the rich nations to enforce significantly larger cuts than poorer nations, and pushed for higher financial support and more technological assistance to poorer nations.
The rich nations, however, refused to accept such demands and called for stricter verification measures of the efforts taken by developing countries to cut down emissions and the utilization of aid provided for tackling the effects of climate change.
Before the walkout, Obama had held a private meeting with the Chinese premier in a last minute bid to salvage the accord on global warming before the conference ended later in the day. Nonetheless, did not stop the Chinese delegation from walking out of the plenary session of the summit, along with India and Brazil. Wen also skipped a high-level meeting earlier in the day with heads of state from twenty countries, sending his vice foreign minister instead.
Addressing the summit earlier in the day, Obama said the U.S. intends to meet its responsibility to address climate change. He stressed that all major economies must put forward decisive national actions that will reduce emissions, and begin to turn the corner on climate change.
"I'm confident that America will fulfill the commitments that we have made: cutting our emissions in the range of 17 percent by 2020, and by more than 80 percent by 2050 in line with final legislation," Obama said.
"The time for talk is over. This is the bottom line: We can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, continue to refine it and build upon its foundation," he said, blaming the developing countries for demanding "aid with no strings attached, and no obligations with respect to transparency."
Currently, some 110 world leaders are in Copenhagen as a part of international efforts to reach some sort of consensus on targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The summit is being chaired by Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Danish Premier and chairman of the Conference of Parties (COP). The final political statement of the summit has to be signed by leaders of nations participating in the conference.
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