Obama's arrival expected to inject fresh momentum into Copenhagen talks

via guardian.co.uk

* Environment
* Copenhagen climate change conference 2009

Copenhagen climate conference
Obama's arrival expected to inject fresh momentum into Copenhagen talks

US president said to be preparing 'knock out punch' after Hillary Clinton's gamechanging promise to back $100bn climate aid

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* Suzanne Goldenberg in Copenhagen
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 December 2009 19.38 GMT
* Article history

Barack Obama with Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office

Barack Obama with Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office earlier this year - the US secretary of state soothed tensions before the US president's arrival for the final day of talks in Copenhagen. Photograph: Pete Souza/White House/HO/EPA

Barack Obama is poised to arrive in Copenhagen tomorrow with additional pledges of cash for poor countries which will suffer the most from global warming, a day after America's promise to support a $100bn a year climate fund.

Obama's arrival has been the most anticipated event of the 10-day summit, which has lurched between optimism and rank despair. He will seek to make a decisive impact, building on the announcement today by Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, who said for the first time that America would support a $100bn global climate change fund from 2020. But she will be a tough act to follow, as the statement was seen by delegates as a gamechanger.

Obama is expected to add an extra boost of momentum by beefing up America's share in a $10bn a year fast-track aid package. That aims to cushion poor countries from the impact of climate change and promote rainforest preservation starting next year. He is also expected to outline little-known provisions in the climate bill passed by the House of Representatives that would direct some $4bn a year from the auction of emission allowances to a fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change and deploy clean technology.

He is also expected to call more forcefully on the Senate to pass climate change law, critical to the eventual success of Copenhagen. "I've got a sense that she set the table, and he is going to deliver the knock-out punch," said Earl Blumenauer, part of the delegation of Democratic congressmen to the talks.

Posted via web from Global Warming News