Obama Delays Copenhagen Trip

By: Dipka Bhambhani, Published: 12/04/09 6:32pm

WASHINGTON: In a surprise announcement late Friday, the White House said President Obama will delay his trip to world climate talks in Copenhagen next week.

The President was expected to attend the talks on December 9, but will now be in Denmark on the last day of the meeting -- December 18th.

In a statement, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18 rather than on December 9."

The White House noted that climate negotiators from the State Department led by Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change, as well as other Cabinet officials will represent the U.S. well until President Obama arrives in two weeks.

The President was under scrutiny for months leading up to the Copenhagen talks because he had not made a decision about attending. The White House finally announced on November 25th that President Obama would be in Copenhagen on Dec. 9th before heading to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

The White House said President Obama along with other world leaders would push for an accord to mobilize $10 billion a year by 2012 to support adaptation and climate change mitigation in developing countries most vulnerable to climate change. "Providing this assistance is not only a humanitarian imperative -- it's an investment in our common security, as no climate change accord can succeed if it does not help all countries reduce their emissions," Gibbs said in a statement.

To read the full statement from the White House, click HERE.