US President Barack Obama to Attend Copenhagen Climate Summit

US president Obama will attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the White House says. Photo by BGNES

The White House has announced that US President Barack Obama will attend the UN Global Climate Conference in early December.

The unconfirmed announcement, made on Wednesday, has removed recent doubts about Obama’s presence at the summit.

The US President had previously said he would attend only if "we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over the edge".

Obama will join over 60 world leaders at the conference, scheduled for December 7 – 18. The President has said the goal should be an agreement with “immediate operational effect”, and not only a political declaration.

The conference is intended to thrash out a global deal on climate change, as the current Kyoto Protocol is set to expire in 2012.

The anonymous White House official also stated that President Obama will then travel on to Oslo, Norway, to receive his Nobel Peace prize in a ceremony on December 10, the date of the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

The White House has later announced that the US will table an offer at Copenhagen to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in several stages, beginning with a pledge of a 17% cut by 2020.

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