WASHINGTON — An “empty” climate deal at United Nations global warming talks in Copenhagen would be worse than reaching no deal at all, a White House spokesman said Thursday.

“Coming back with an empty agreement would be far worse than coming back empty handed,” said spokesman Robert Gibbs, as President Barack Obama prepared to leave Washington and head to the talks.

“We’re not going there just to get an agreement for the sake of something that’s called an agreement,” Gibbs said. “We want something that works for both the international community, but also works for the United States. We think that the elements are there to reach that agreement.”

Gibbs said Obama was traveling to Copenhagen with the intention of spurring the talks towards a “strong operational agreement.”

“That agreement has to include strong things like transparency, so that we understand and know that people will live up to their commitment,” he said.

Fears that the U.N. climate summit was heading for failure amid deep divisions over who must cut emissions and pay for the devastation of global warming had not deterred Obama from making the trip, Gibbs said. “There’s no change in his plans. I was about to say his bags are packed — I assume they are. The president’s prepared to go tonight to Copenhagen. There’s been no change in his schedule.”

He added: “I don’t think the president has ever been under any illusion that this was ever going to be easy.”

Gibbs said the administration did not have a formal treaty in mind to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.  Rather, he said, “We have to come to the table with a strong target for 2020. Obviously, we’re not talking about a treaty. We’re talking about a political agreement that lays out what will be in a eventual treaty as we work toward that.”

He added that Washington hopes that China, a major world polluter that relies heavily on coal-burning power plants spewing greenhouse gases for its energy needs, “will stay and will be part of finding a solution.”

“There are those like the Chinese that have balked at strong transparency requirements. Our hope that what’s been reported about their decision to walk away will be something that they will reconsider,” he said.

The Obama administration has already said it will put forth an offer in Copenhagen to curb its greenhouse-gas emissions 17 percent from
2005 levels by 2020. That figure is well below pledges by Europe and Japan, but in line with legislation currently before the U.S. Congress.
 

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