Sarkozy Urges Singh To Come To Copenhagen, Obama Confirms His Attendance

November 28, 2009 5:12 p.m. EST

Washington, DC (AHN) - The chances of a positive outcome at the upcoming Copenhagen Summit got another boost with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, urging the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to participate in the Climate Change Summit.

Sarkozy, addressing a press conference on the margins of the 39-nation, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain, cited Copenhagen meeting as a historical one, warning, "If we fail in Copenhagen, all will fail."

French leader, who met Singh at the CHOGM, told journalists that he has urged Manmohan Singh to be a part of the Climate Change, which will take place at Copenhagen between Dec 7 and Dec 18, so that he can be part of vital decisions adopted during the event.    "We want India's voice to be heard at this international meeting," Sarkozy said, expressing the hope that the Copenhagen talks would be "productive, intense and progressive".   He said that at the Copenhagen meeting "decisions would need to be made, and failure is not an option". Sarkozy said that he was confident that India would not stand in the way of a successful conference.

French President also mentioned that Indian Prime Minister will be discussing with his cabinet if he should be a part of the Copenhagen meeting.   The French president stated that he plans to visit India by March or April 2010 to finalize the transfer of nuclear technology agreements between India and France.   JOINT NOD AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Earlier, during his visit to the U.S., the Indian prime minister Singh joined the U.S. President Barack Obama to reaffirm "their intention to promote the full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in accordance with the Bali Action Plan."

The White House in a statement also announced that "President Obama will travel to Copenhagen on Dec. 9 to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where he is eager to work with the international community to drive progress toward a comprehensive and operational Copenhagen accord."

In a drastic change of policy, the U.S. will be putting on the table "a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020 and ultimately in line with final U.S. energy and climate legislation," the statement said.

"In light of the President's goal to reduce emissions 83% by 2050, the expected pathway set forth in this pending legislation would entail a 30% reduction below 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42% reduction below 2005 in 2030," it added.

Underscoring President Obama's commitment to American leadership on clean energy and combating climate change, the White House also announced that a host of Cabinet secretaries and other top officials from across the Administration will travel to Copenhagen for the conference. 

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson are all scheduled to attend, along with Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren, and Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner.