Jeff Mason, Reuters 22 Sep 09;
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Worldwide efforts to fight climate change face potentially crucial milestones this week during United Nations and G20 meetings that activists hope will bring momentum to stalled talks on a new global warming treaty.
Below is a list of questions and answers about the meetings, what is at stake, and what outcomes may or may not result.
WHO IS MEETING AND WHEN?
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon holds a one-day summit on climate change for world leaders at U.N. headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting is not a negotiating session, but Ban hopes it will encourage heads of state and government to prod their governments over outstanding issues that have prevented official talks from moving forward.
U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a meeting of G20 leaders on Thursday and Friday in Pittsburgh, where they are expected to discuss how industrial nations should provide financial support for developing countries dealing with climate change.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF CLIMATE TALKS?
U.N. talks among 190 nations are scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in December to forge a deal on a climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out at the end of 2012.
Progress ahead of Copenhagen has been limited. Industrial and developing nations are at odds over how to spread out greenhouse gas emission curbs and how much rich nations should pay to help poorer nations cope with the effects of rising temperatures.
WHAT CAN THIS WEEK'S MEETINGS DO TO ADVANCE TALKS?
It's all about momentum.
Renewed commitment from world leaders at the U.N. summit could reinvigorate the process, trickling down to negotiating rounds set to take place in the coming months.
There are two people to watch in particular on Tuesday: Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The Chinese leader is expected to unveil new plans that his country intends to take to tackle global warming -- a move that could help to break the international deadlock.
Obama's speech at the summit will be scrutinized for signs that he is stepping up to take the leadership role he promised the United States would take on this issue.
WHAT IS OBAMA EXPECTED TO SAY?
The U.S. president is likely to stress the progress Washington has already made in his short tenure as president on fighting global warming, including putting billions of dollars toward renewable energy in the economic stimulus bill and laying out tough new standards for auto emissions.
But activists -- and other nations -- want more than just a review of what has been done.
"He has to show the rest of the world that he is serious about a global agreement, that it's not just rhetoric," said Nick Mabey, head of E3G, an environmental group in London.
"Obama's speech will tell us about how far the forces that are talking about delay and lowering expectations are winning and how much he is still focused on winning this battle. That will massively affect the negotiations."
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE U.S. CLIMATE BILL?
U.S. progress on a law limiting greenhouse gas emissions is seen as crucial to the advancement of the Copenhagen talks.
Earlier this year the House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation calling for industrial greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced 17 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels, and 83 percent by 2050.
The U.S. Senate is considering similar legislation, but a bill has not yet been introduced.
Both Congress and the White House are focusing their energy almost exclusively on the debate over healthcare, so delay on the climate bill is seen as possible if not likely.
U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid indicated last week the climate bill could be pushed back to 2010, which could hamper the U.S. position in Copenhagen and discourage other nations from committing to carbon curbs.
WHAT'S NEXT AFTER THE U.N. SUMMIT?
The G20 meeting on Thursday and Friday comes next, though U.S. and other G20 officials have played down expectations of any substantial breakthrough on the financing issue.
Further climate negotiating sessions are scheduled to take place in Bangkok at the end of September and Barcelona in early November. The Copenhagen talks begin on December 7. (Additional reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Eric Beech)
