Leaders fail to yield climate breakthrough before Copenhagen

2009/11/15

Hastily convened climate change talks among key leaders including the US and Chinese presidents here Sunday failed to yield a breakthrough ahead of a crunch meeting in Copenhagen, a US official said.

US President Barack Obama met with leaders including Hu Jintao of China and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen — who made a surprise visit to Singapore to join the meeting on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit.

“There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally-binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days,” Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Froman told reporters. -- AFP