Obama and Hu revive ailing Copenhagen talks

Just as environmentalists were preparing to administer the last rites to the chances of a meaningful deal being agreed at December's Copenhagen Summit, the US and China have today breathed new life into the flagging talks, signalling that they aim to announce emission targets next month.

Speaking following talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing, president Obama said that while a legally binding treaty would not be signed at Copenhagen, both countries were committed to delivering a robust deal containing emission targets.

"Our aim there, in support of what prime minister Rasmussen of Denmark is trying to achieve, is not a partial accord or a political declaration, but rather an accord that covers all the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect," Obama said.

In a joint communiqué, Hu and Obama said that a Copenhagen Accord should feature emission reduction targets for industrialised nations and a declaration of action plans to curb emissions from developing countries.

In a hugely encouraging sign for the forthcoming talks, the communiqué went on to largely mirror the position of the UN and the EU, calling for any deal to include increased financial support for developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and cut carbon emissions, measures to accelerate the rollout of clean technologies, and improved mechanisms for protecting forests.

The breakthrough came as the two leaders also signed agreements intended to better foster co-operation between the countries in the development of low-carbon technologies, such as "clean coal" systems and smart grids.

The deal is expected to lead to the creation of a new joint low-carbon research centre, while the US Trade Development Agency will also reportedly fund an office in Beijing to help US clean tech firms set up projects in the country.

In addition, the US government is expected to provide funding to a number of US firms to help them set up demonstration projects in China. However, the vexed issue of whether or not the US will be willing to relax intellectual property rules around clean tech to help countries such as China develop low-carbon infrastructure is likely to remain unresolved.

The news comes as the head of the UN's environment programme, Achim Steiner, warned yesterday that there was an "extremely high" risk that a failure to deliver a robust deal in Copenhagen would allow the talks to drift into years of further wrangling.

"There have been hundreds of meetings, summits and workshops. If you take out that momentum, you run the risk of entering into an open-ended process and before you know it, you are in the same situation as the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation talks," he told the Guardian newspaper, adding that any delays would have significant human, social and economic costs.

"Political leaders in Copenhagen will have to explain in a credible way to the two to three billion people who are living on the front line of climate change why they could not reach a deal."