65 leaders confirm attendance at climate talks amid worries about outcome

Among those who confirmed their attendance were the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan and Spain, a Danish government official told Reuters on Sunday.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has also said that he will attend, and US President Barack Obama said he would, if it would help bring about a new accord.

Although the announcement provides some badly needed momentum ahead of December's talks, a successful outcome is by no means guaranteed.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held December 7-18 aims to establish a new pact which would replace the Kyoto Protocol against global warming when it expires in 2012. It was originally intended to be a gathering of environmental ministers, but earlier this month, Denmark invited 191 heads of state and government to the final two days of the conference in hopes of making a binding agreement more likely.

'All leaders have a responsibility'

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in confirming his own presence at the conference, said world leaders "cannot afford to fail" to come to an agreement.

"I am committed to doing everything in my power to secure an agreement that marks the decisive global shift towards combating climate change," Brown said. "I believe all leaders have a responsibility to come together at Copenhagen to do this. We cannot afford to fail."

Developing countries want rich nations to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent from their 1990 levels before 2020. The developing countries have named this as a condition to their own measures to curb rising emissions. They also want rich countries to contribute about one percent of their gross domestic product per year, amounting to around $400 billion (270 billion euros), to finance such measures.

But no such aid promises have been forthcoming, and most emission cut proposals are for reductions of between 11 and 15 percent. The European Union has pledged to cut emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels, and up to 30 percent if more countries join in.

The United States, which together with China accounts for 37.5 percent of the world's emissions, is under pressure to do its part. But Senate leaders say the body probably won't discuss climate change measures until early 2010 - a draft bill currently under consideration would only reduce emissions to about 7 percent below 1990 levels.

svs/AP/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Nancy Isenson