Merkel aims go to U.N. climate talks; IEA urges deal

BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled on Tuesday she would visit Copenhagen to push for a U.N. climate deal with other leaders next month, saying failure would set back climate cooperation by years.

In Paris, the International Energy Agency (IEA) argued strongly for a U.N. carbon-capping deal, projecting that world use of fossil fuels would otherwise surge by 2030 and push up both energy prices and greenhouse gas emissions.

"A failure of the climate conference in Copenhagen would set progress on international climate policy back years. We cannot afford this," Merkel said of bogged-down 190-nation talks on a pact meant to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

"Time is running out and the EU has developed a clear and distinct negotiating position. Now we expect commitments from the United States and countries like China and India," she said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"And I will lobby for this personally and obviously, if it is successful...I will go to Copenhagen, just so any doubts about this are allayed here," she said.

The European Union, which plans to cut its emissions by between 20 and 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, sees itself as a leader in fighting climate change. China, the United States, the EU, Russia and India are the biggest emitters.

The Copenhagen talks were originally meant to be only for environment ministers but the United Nations said last week that about 40 leaders have indicated plans to attend, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and leaders of nations in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he would go to Copenhagen if he felt the world was on the brink of a "meaningful agreement" and his prescence could make a difference to secure a deal.

HARD ROAD AHEAD

The last round of U.N. talks before Copenhagen ended on November 6 in Barcelona with a gulf between rich and poor on how to share out the burden of curbs on emissions meant to avoid droughts, floods, species extinctions and rising sea levels.

The United Nations says a full legal treaty is out of reach but wants a deal in Denmark on key elements including individual 2020 carbon cuts for developed nations at least $10 billion a year in aid to kick-start a deal.

In Paris, the IEA said use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels such as coal and oil would surge in the next two decades if policies remained unchanged with no strong climate measures.

The world would have to spend an extra $500 billion to cut carbon emissions for each year it delayed implementing a deal on global warming, according to the IEA, which advises 28 industrialised nations.

And, without an international agreement on climate change, the ratio of energy spending to gross domestic product for the largest consumer countries would double by 2030.

IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told Reuters the world needed to limit the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide equivalent, up from about 390 ppm now.

"The world needs to go to the 450 part per million target, not only because of climate change but because of growing problems within our energy system and its possible implications again on the economy," Birol said.

"Waiting (to act) will impose tremendous costs on our societies," said Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard. "With this report the IEA shows that the solution is within reach."

In Washington, a leading Democratic Senator, Max Baucus, said the United States should include "border measures" to protect U.S. manufacturers from unfair foreign competition as part of legislation to fight climate change. [nN10310396]

He did not specify what measures he favoured but many nations have urged Washington to stop short of tariffs on imports. Baucus also said he did not believe the Senate would finish work on climate change legislation this year.