Major leaders affirm their support at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen by announcing attendance and targets.

US President Barack Obama has pledged his support for the war on climate change by announcing his attendance at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 9 December.

The White House announced yesterday that the President would be attending the conference and will unveil plans for the US to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by 2020. He will also say that the target will rise to 30% by 2025, and 42% by 2030.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “No country is more important than the United States in resolving this climate change issue.”

A spokesperson at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, commented on the decision by the US President: “We welcome President Obama’s decision to attend Copenhagen and are sure his presence will add further momentum towards getting the ambitious, fair and binding deal that the world needs.”

Environment charity Friends of the Earth (FoE) said that as the US is the biggest per capita polluter, it has a moral obligation to take the lead on the issue.

However, FoE welcomed the news and Tom Picken, International Climate Campaigner, said: “Obama’s pledge to go to Copenhagen is a welcome and significant development – but he must adopt a ‘yes we can’ attitude in the UN climate talks if he is to earn his Nobel Prize.”

Leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the December conference include UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

After much speculation, China has revealed today (26 November) that its Prime Minister Wen Jiabao would attend the climate talks as it also announced its emissions targets for the first time. The world‘s largest emitter of greenhouse gases said it will aim to reduce its “carbon intensity” by 40-45% by the year 2020.