US hails successful Cancun Conference

US President Barack Obama called up his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon and congratulated him for his leadership and Mexico's excellent work chairing the Cancun conference to a successful conclusion that builds on the historic Copenhagen Accord and advances the effort to address the challenge of climate change, the White House said.

In a statement, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Cancun Agreements secured a set of balanced international decisions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) which represent meaningful progress in global response to climate change.

"The Cancun Agreements represent a balanced and significant step forward. In the days and months ahead, the United States will work with our friends and partners to keep the world focused on this urgent challenge and to continue building on this progress," Clinton said.

Clinton said this outcome advances each of the core elements of the Copenhagen Accord: They anchor the Accord's mitigation pledges; build on a system of transparency, with substantial detail and content of International Consultations and Analysis which will provide confidence that a country’s pledges are being carried out; launch a new Green Climate Fund; create a framework to reduce deforestation in developing countries; establish a technology mechanism; and setup a framework and committee to will promote international cooperation and action on adaptation.

Over the last year, the United States has worked with our international partners to build on the progress achieved at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, she said.

"We have pressed for substantive steps that would advance the vision of the Copenhagen Accord. This month we joined the nations of the world in Cancun for a new round of talks aimed at mobilising common action to meet the shared global challenge of climate change," Clinton said.

The UN climate conference today reached a "compromise" to set up a USD 100 billion 'Green Fund' to fight global warming. There was no agreement on extending the landmark Kyoto Protocol on emissions cuts beyond 2012. The decisions reached in this conference will be followed up in negotiations next year.