OBAMA CLIMATE 2 LST

"Abroad, he has engaged leaders bilaterally and
multilaterally on the issue of climate change, and agreed to
participate in the climate conference in Copenhagen," the
White House said.
This week Obama discussed the status of negotiations
with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
There appears to be an emerging consensus that a core
element of the Copenhagen accord should be to mobilize USD10
billion a year by 2012 to support adaptation and mitigation in
developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable and
least developed countries that could be destabilized by the
impacts of climate change, they concluded.
"The US will pay its fair share of that amount and
other countries will make substantial commitments as well,"
the White House said.
"In Copenhagen, we also need to address the need for
financing in the longer term to support adaptation and
mitigation in developing countries. Providing this assistance
is not only a humanitarian imperative – it's an investment in
our common security, as no climate change accord can succeed
if it does not help all countries reduce their emissions," he
said.
"Based on his conversations with other leaders and the
progress that has already been made to give momentum to
negotiations, the President believes that continued US
leadership can be most productive through his participation at
the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather
than on December 9th," the White House said. PTI