CLIMATE CHANGE

A U.N. summit is considering a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius, backed by a new fund of $100 billion a year to aid developing nations, according to a draft text pulled together on Friday morning hours before world leaders met.

The following is text extracted from a draft of an Accord among Leaders at Copenhagen.

The White House said that world leaders had reached a meaningful agreement that would pave the way towards multi-laterally combatting global climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama reached agreement with major developing powers on a climate deal on Friday, a U.S. official said, but he said the accord was only a first step and was insufficient to fight climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama addressed on Friday morning to delegates in Copenhagen on the final day of the UN climate conference.

As President Barack Obama labored behind closed doors to break a deadlock over efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans from the U.S. Congress were outside those meetings urging him not to bother.

European Union carbon emissions futures steadied on Friday, as investors awaited an outcome from a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen.

World leaders worked toward a target of halving greenhouse gas emissions on Friday, but a draft text abandoned ambitions for a legally binding climate treaty next year in a sign divisions remain.

World leaders tried to rescue a global climate agreement on Friday but the failure of leading greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States to come up with new proposals blocked chances of an ambitious deal.

President Barack Obama met other world leaders in a last push for a new global climate deal on Friday, after negotiators failed to reach a deal on carbon cuts in all-night talks.

China said on Thursday the US move to offer $100 billion in climate funds for poor countries was a good step”, seeking compromise with Washington on its demand for checks on Chinese emissions curbs.

World leaders worked through the early hours to try and beat a Friday deadline for a deal on cutting emissions and helping poor countries cope with the costly impact of global warming.

When it is about pushing climate policies, the debate often surrounds the costs of implementation. Nations debate with nations, while citizens debate with their leaders. Locally, proponents often stress that new policies will create new jobs, 'green jobs,' as they say in the US. What is often not mentioned is that there are also costs, both in increasing prices and old jobs which are vanishing in turn.IBT's full coverage of Copenhagen

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen on Thursday night and will join the UN climate talks on Friday, bringing hopes to finish a complicated process of reaching a political agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.

Prospects for a strong U.N. climate pact grew more remote on Thursday at the climax of two-year talks as ministers and leaders blamed leading emitters China and the United States for deadlock on carbon cuts.

Danish hosts revived climate talks on Thursday and Washington backed a $100 billion (62 billion pound) fund to aid poor countries as world leaders gathered on the eve of a U.N. deadline to reach a deal to slow global warming.

Dwindling prospects a strong climate deal at a U.N. summit in Copenhagen were likely to knock carbon permits under the European Union emissions trading scheme, traders said, and prices fell to a two-week low on Thursday.

Leaf Clean Energy Co, which invests in clean-energy companies mainly in North America, agreed to merge with closed-end investment company Trading Emissions Plc in an all-share deal, creating the largest carbon-focused company listed in London.

U.S. Senator John Kerry raised the possibility on Wednesday that a major energy and climate change bill he is trying to craft might not contain the cap and trade mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

U.S. Senator John Kerry raised the possibility on Wednesday that a major energy and climate change bill he is trying to craft might not contain the cap and trade mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is likely to ignore pressure to adopt tougher emissions targets this week, preferring instead to let the United States craft a North American climate change policy.