Obama and Hu aim to agree greenhouse gas targets

Statement by leaders of world’s two biggest polluters could breathe new life into Copenhagen climate change talks, the Guardian has reported today.

The US and China, the world’s two biggest polluters, today said they aimed to set targets for easing greenhouse gas emissions next month, potentially breathing new life into the flagging Copenhagen climate negotiations.

Days after the US president, Barack Obama, said time to secure a legally binding agreement had run out, he and the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, agreed at a summit that they would continue to press for a comprehensive deal at Copenhagen that would “rally the world”.

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Read SUE research findings that challenge UK climate targets

Copenhagen climate talks hopes fade as Obama backs postponement

Barack Obama acknowledged today that time has run out to secure a binding climate deal at Copenhagen and began moving towards a two-stage process that would delay a legal pact until next year at the earliest, the Guardian has reported today.

During a hastily convened breakfast meeting in Singapore, the US president supported a Danish plan to salvage something from the moribund negotiations by aiming for a broad political agreement and postponing contentious decisions on emissions targets, financing and technology transfer.

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