Residents walk across the frozen Songhua River near smokestacks at Jiamusi in China's northeast Heilongjiang province.

Washington — Representatives of 17 of the most important contributors to rising concentrations of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases met April 27–28 to begin discussions they hope will lead to success at the United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December.

“The crisis of climate change exists at the nexus of diplomacy, national security and development,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said April 27 to open the meeting. “It is an environmental issue, a health issue, an economic issue, an energy issue and a security issue. It is a threat that is global in scope but also local and national in impact.”

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern led U.S. participation, and Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, served as chairman at the first of three preparatory meetings for the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate to be held in Italy in July.

The 17 major economies are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. Denmark, in its capacity as the president of the U.N. conference in December, and the United Nations also participated.

Plans for Copenhagen include drafting an ambitious global climate agreement for 2012, when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires, and beyond. Officials from 192 countries, including the United States, will participate.

The Kyoto Protocol is an addition to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in force from 2005 to 2012 that established legally binding commitments for reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gases produced by industrialized nations and general commitments for all member countries. Several developed nations, including the United States, declined to ratify the agreement.

OUTCOMES

Forum attendees sought to facilitate candid dialogue among major developed and developing economies and to help generate the political leadership needed to achieve a successful outcome in Copenhagen. They explored initiatives and joint ventures that would increase the supply of clean energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the chairman’s summary of the forum, participants agreed that climate change is an immediate danger to the planet that demands attention from all countries. They said the Major Economies leaders meeting in July should add momentum to the Copenhagen process and to collective efforts to achieve a low- CO2 future.

All nations in attendance are taking actions in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities, the summary said. Participants cited the need to ensure that developed countries’ actions are clear and robust, and all major economies must take actions consistent with science that support energy security and sustainable development.

Participants highlighted the importance that international cooperation can play in facilitating global technology innovation, commercialization and deployment.

“As major economies, we are responsible for the majority of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Clinton said. “We may be at different stages of development and we certainly may have different causes of the emissions that we are responsible for, but we think coming together and working to address this crisis is comparable to the G20 nations addressing the global economic crisis.”

The forum was initiated by President Obama in March. France will host the second preparatory meeting in Paris in May; the time and place for the third meeting have not yet been determined. The preparatory meetings support a leaders meeting of the Major Economies Forum in La Maddalena, Italy, in July.

A summary of the forum is available on America.gov.