Climate change guidelines 'too ambitious' for the US

Bali, Indonesia: Guidelines on reducing greenhouse gas emissions opposed by the United States may be “too ambitious'' to include in the climate conference's final statement, said United Nations chief.

According to sources, drafts of the conference statement include a call for industrialised countries to consider cutting emissions blamed for global warming by between 25 per cent and 40 per cent by 2020.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said such goals might have to wait for subsequent negotiations when asked about the opposition by the United States, though at some point targets for emissions cuts would be necessary.