• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Obama backs two-step plan to reach climate deal

Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:17pm EST

SINGAPORE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has backed a two-step plan by the host of next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen to aim for an operational agreement and leave legally binding details until later, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

"There was, I'd say, a general consensus of support for what Prime Minister Rasmussen laid out, which was - he called it one agreement, two steps -- where Copenhagen would be the first step in a process towards an international legally binding agreement," a top U.S. negotiator, Michael Froman, told reporters.

He was referring to Denmark's Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

The official was speaking after a breakfast meeting of leaders at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore. The APEC meeting is the last major gathering of global decision-makers before the U.N. climate summit which is meant to ramp up efforts to fight climate change. (Reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by John Chalmers)



More from Reuters

Photo

Pay czar caps more salaries at bailed out firms

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. pay czar on Friday expanded a crackdown on pay packages at four companies rescued with taxpayer money, limiting most cash salaries at $500,000 for a second tier of top earners.

A model gets prepared backstage ahead of a wedding dress show at China Fashion Week in Beijing
Fashion & Style:

Flowers, church, liposuction?

Brides and grooms are opting for cosmetic surgery and other procedures, supplementing veils and cummerbunds with Botox and liposuction. Women say they want to look good for photos, but men are a different story.  Full Article 

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana as her digital character Neytiri in a scene from "Avatar". Credit: REUTERS/Twentieth Century Fox/Handout

Will Cameron change Hollywood again?

Beyond the hype and buzz, James Cameron's $400 million "Avatar," one of the most expensive films ever made, is being closely watched for its impact on the future of movies.  Full Article