U.N. Chief: Next U.S. President Must Lead on Climate

ACCRA, Ghana - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday that the next American president must put the United States at the head of the fight against global warming, with negotiations for a new climate treaty entering their decisive final year.

The talks, which resumed in Ghana last week, aim to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol at a summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. The United States is the only major industrial nation that rejected Kyoto, and its posture will shape the new deal.

Both presidential candidates have broken with the Bush administration's resistance to mandatory limits. Barack Obama and John McCain each endorse a cap-and-trade system to cut greenhouse gas emissions, though their targets differ.

"The next administration will take office just as the world writes the rules for the next half-century," Ban said. "American leadership is indispensable."

The talks remain snagged on the central bargain: rich countries must cut first and pay for poorer nations' adaptation, while fast-growing economies like China and India resist binding caps of their own. China passed the United States this year as the largest emitter, though its per-person emissions remain far lower.

The year's science has added urgency: Arctic sea ice is on pace for one of its lowest extents on record, and researchers say the melting is outpacing the models.

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Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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