US reassures Bonn climate talks that it stands by carbon target

US diplomats at this week's Bonn climate talks yesterday attempted to downplay the implications of the Senate's decision to ditch proposed climate legislation, insisting the Obama administration stood by its pledge to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent against 2005 levels by 2020.

The controversial decision to drop plans for a climate and energy bill that would have imposed a legally binding cap on US emissions overshadowed the opening day of the latest round of UN climate talks with critics arguing that the move undermined the US negotiating position.

However, in an interview with news agency Reuters on the sidelines of the week-long meeting, US climate envoy Todd Stern insisted the Senate's failure to pass legislation would not impact the 17 per cent carbon target submitted by the US as part of the agreement reached at last year's Copenhagen summit.

"We're not moving away from what we submitted last year," he said, adding that while the passage of a climate bill would have provided a "shot in the arm " to international climate negotiations the US remained committed to curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Stern provided few details on how the administration planned to ensure the 17 per cent target is met, but the Obama White House is known to be considering a fresh attempt to pass legislation following mid-term elections in the autumn and is also working on a Plan B that would see emissions regulated through the Environmental Protection Agency.

"The president has made it perfectly clear that he continues to be very significantly committed to the goal of getting significant energy and climate legislation done," Stern told Reuters.

He also insisted that the US remained fully committed to delivering significant progress towards an international climate treaty at this year's main UN summit in Cancun, Mexico.

His comments came as newly appointed UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told delegates at the Bonn summit that they had to pick up the pace of negotiations if genuine progress is to be delivered at this year's summit.

There are only 11 more days of official negotiations scheduled before the Mexico summit with this week's meeting in Bonn to be followed by week-long talks in Tianjin, China on 4 to 9 October. An additional meeting of the Major Economies Forum is expected to also be scheduled ahead of the Mexico summit, but observers are increasingly concerned that time is running out for tangible progress to be made this year.

Speaking in her opening address, Figueres detailed the challenges still faced by the negotiations, outlining how diplomats still had to reach agreement on how to formalize emission-reduction targets, measure, report and verify emission cuts, and raise finance for climate-related products.