Denmark Invites 191 Leaders to UN Climate Talks

JAN M. OLSEN,
Associated Press Writer

COPENHAGEN—Denmark sent invitations Thursday to 191 world leaders to attend next month's U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, officials said.

The invitations, signed by Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, were dispatched through diplomatic channels.

"Your personal attendance is a pivotal contribution to a successful outcome" of the Dec. 7-18 conference, said the letter from Loekke Rasmussen, who will chair the talks aimed at reaching a new global accord to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to curb emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The high-level meeting of leaders at Copenhagen is expected to start Dec. 16.

"Many countries have already announced or passed significant legislation to reduce emission levels and adapt to the negative effects of climate change," Loekke Rasmussen said in the letter.

At least 40 leaders have said they plan to attend the conference, which follows two years of tough U.N.-led negotiations to draft a new climate change agreement.

Among leaders attending are British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

President Barack Obama has said he may come if it a deal appears possible and his presence would help clinch it. A U.S. delegate to the climate talks, Jane Lubchenco, said Thursday in Copenhagen that Obama believes an agreement next month is "critically important" and that he is "actively considering" attending the meeting.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil has indicated he might come to the conference, and a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is keeping the date open.

Meanwhile, the European Union — which has said it hopes to lead global climate policy — said it will meet or exceed its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.

Europe "can be relied on to deliver" its promised reductions, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in Brussels. By 2020, the 27-member EU has vowed to slash emissions by 20 percent, and said it would step that up to 30 percent if the United States, China and other nations also pledge ambitious cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.