Washington (Platts)--30Mar2009

The Obama administration will continue a series of international climate
change talks between developed countries and major developing countries that
were initiated under the prior Bush administration, announcing over the
weekend that it would pursue the negotiations as part of an effort to craft a
climate treaty by the end of the year.

The "major economies" talks will help feed into efforts when UN members
convene in Copenhagen in December to finalize a treaty that will be a
successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto treaty expires at the end of 2012.

The White House added that the State Department will host senior
representatives from 17 countries from April 27-28 in Washington. The leaders
meeting, which President Barack Obama will attend, will take place in July at
La Maddalena, Italy.

The series of talks between developed countries like the US and large
developing countries like China and India began in September 2007 under
President George W. Bush. His administration, which pulled out of Kyoto in
2001, said the talks were the only way to bring developing countries to
the table.

One of the Bush administration's critiques of Kyoto was that it required
developed countries to undertake emissions reductions while developing
countries, no matter how large or small, were exempt. Bush never backed a
domestic carbon cap during his time in office.

Bush was criticized for trying to make the major economies process a
parallel track to UN negotiations. He also received criticism for beginning
the process while not offering plans for a domestic US carbon cap, which many
viewed as the foundation for any successful international agreement.

Obama backs an aggressive carbon cap slashing emissions to 83% below 2005
levels by 2050. While he faces steep opposition in Congress, his proposal has
already changed the tenor of the debate. During the fall 2008 campaign, his
surrogates said that they would keep the "major economies" meetings, but make
it more robust.

Obama has also appointed a full time climate envoy at the State
Department, Todd Stern, to shepherd the US through the process.

The countries involved are the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China,
Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, the European Union,
France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.

UN climate negotiators met this weekend in Bonn to help lay the
groundwork for Copenhagen.

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com