The U.S. must step up its efforts to combat climate change, Germany's environment minister said Monday, accusing the Obama administration of lacking ambition in its environmental goals.
"Even under Barack Obama, the U.S. has insufficient climate protection goals, at least as far as the international community is concerned," Sigmar Gabriel told Berlin radio station RBB.
Gabriel called on President Obama to commit to "significantly more ambitious targets than has so far been the case."
Washington's top climate negotiator Todd Stern said Sunday the Obama administration was "powerfully and fervently engaged" in U.N. talks to forge a global climate treaty.
But the U.S. can't "ride in on a white horse and make it all work," Stern told delegates at the 11-day U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) technical meeting in Bonn.
The entry of the new U.S. team into the negotiations - which involve more than 190 states - has generated huge expectations, sharpened by the change in tone from Obama compared to his predecessor.
George W. Bush had rejected the Kyoto Protocol, whose provisions expire in 2012, and nearly torpedoed the 2007 "Bali Roadmap" agreement that set a December 2009 deadline for a new deal.
However, Obama has said the U.S. will aim to slash emissions by 80% by 2050, matching a goal set by the European Union.
Nevertheless, he has offered a more modest ambition for 2020, pledging to return the U.S. to 1990 level emissions, whereas the E.U. has committed to a 20% cut and is aiming for 30%.