The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Barcelona

As China's actions to curb gas emissions garnered praise at U.N. climate talks, the United States came under renewed pressure to come up with a plan to cut pollution blamed for hastening global warming.

Delegates at the weeklong talks in Barcelona pressed Monday for Washington to make specific commitments on reducing carbon emissions and contributing to a global climate fund to help poor countries cope with damage caused by climate change.

"We expect the United States to be able to deliver on one of the major challenges of our century," Denmark's Minister for Climate and Energy Connie Hedegaard said.

Delegates expressed frustration Monday that, after two years of talks on drafting a new pact, the U.S. has been unable to make firm commitments because it is waiting for Congress to enact legislation.

World nations hope to finalize a new global warming pact in time for it to be adopted at a major U.N. conference next month in Copenhagen. The deal would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but require both industrial countries and developing countries to rein in emissions of carbon and other heat-raising greenhouse gases. Kyoto applied only to industrialized nations, and was rejected by the United States.

Hedegaard noted that President Barack Obama, cited for raising hopes of a more peaceful and climate friendly world, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in nearby Norway on Dec. 10 - just after the decisive climate conference gets under way.