All countries agreed a deal to combat climate change at a summit in Copenhagen on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
U.S. President Barack Obama has invited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for another bilateral meeting to discuss outstanding issues on a U.N. climate change agreement, the White House said in a statement.
The following is text extracted from a draft of an Accord among Leaders at Copenhagen.
The White House said that world leaders had reached a meaningful agreement that would pave the way towards multi-laterally combatting global climate change.
U.S. President Barack Obama reached agreement with major developing powers on a climate deal on Friday, a U.S. official said, but he said the accord was only a first step and was insufficient to fight climate change.
U.S. President Barack Obama reached a climate agreement on Friday with leaders from India, South Africa and China that will be a historic step forward in combating global warming, a U.S. official said.
As President Barack Obama labored behind closed doors to break a deadlock over efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans from the U.S. Congress were outside those meetings urging him not to bother.
World leaders worked toward a target of halving greenhouse gas emissions on Friday, but a draft text abandoned ambitions for a legally binding climate treaty next year in a sign divisions remain.
World leaders tried to rescue a global climate agreement on Friday but the failure of leading greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States to come up with new proposals blocked chances of an ambitious deal.
President Barack Obama met other world leaders in a last push for a new global climate deal on Friday, after negotiators failed to reach a deal on carbon cuts in all-night talks.
China said on Thursday the US move to offer $100 billion in climate funds for poor countries was a good step”, seeking compromise with Washington on its demand for checks on Chinese emissions curbs.
World leaders worked through the early hours to try and beat a Friday deadline for a deal on cutting emissions and helping poor countries cope with the costly impact of global warming.
When it is about pushing climate policies, the debate often surrounds the costs of implementation. Nations debate with nations, while citizens debate with their leaders. Locally, proponents often stress that new policies will create new jobs, 'green jobs,' as they say in the US. What is often not mentioned is that there are also costs, both in increasing prices and old jobs which are vanishing in turn.IBT's full coverage of Copenhagen
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen on Thursday night and will join the UN climate talks on Friday, bringing hopes to finish a complicated process of reaching a political agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.
Prospects for a strong U.N. climate pact grew more remote on Thursday at the climax of two-year talks as ministers and leaders blamed leading emitters China and the United States for deadlock on carbon cuts.
Dwindling prospects a strong climate deal at a U.N. summit in Copenhagen were likely to knock carbon permits under the European Union emissions trading scheme, traders said, and prices fell to a two-week low on Thursday.
All nations need to set tougher targets to combat global warming at a U.N. summit and the rich should spell out how much aid they will give the poor by 2020, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
European carbon emissions futures fell five percent to a new two-week low on Thursday due to deadlocked U.N. climate talks and warnings by ministers that they could fail, traders said.
Following are notable quotes about U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen on Thursday, where negotiations were deadlocked with just one day left to work out a new deal to combat global warming after two years of work.
U.S. President Barack Obama heads to Copenhagen on Thursday to help secure a U.N. climate pact, staking his credibility on an as yet elusive deal that has ramifications for him at home and on the world stage.
Danish hosts re-launched U.N. climate talks on Thursday after the United States backed a $100 billion (62 billion pound) global fund to support poor countries and world leaders gathered for a final effort to reach a deal.
India said on Thursday rich countries were set to launch a propaganda campaign wrongly blaming poor nations if a U.N. summit in Copenhagen failed to reach a deal to combat global warming.
