UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama said yesterday a new global agreement on climate change must include strong commitments from emerging economies and move past the rich-poor country divide that has hampered progress in United Nations negotiations.
Obama addressed the UN climate change summit with a statement meant to build political momentum for a global deal on climate change in 2015 and a list of commitments his administration has made to address.
He said a “global compact” needs to include strong commitments from some of the world’s emerging economies because the amount of greenhouse gases they emit increases as their economies grow.
“This time we need an agreement that reflects economic realities in the next decade and beyond,” Obama said.
“It must be ambitious because that’s what the scale of this challenge demands.”
Obama said that prior to taking the podium, he met with China’s vice premier Zhang Gaoli and they agreed that the world’s two biggest emitters “have a responsibility to lead.”
China surpassed the United States in 2007 as the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter.
Following Obama’s remarks, Zhang said China would aim to cap emissions or have them peak “as early as possible.” The issue is critical to U.N. negotiations. Some Chinese government advisers said this could happen after 2030.
