U.S. climate talks make progress, with some gaps

By Jeff Mason and Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-hosted climate talks with the world's biggest greenhouse gas polluters concluded on Tuesday with signs of progress but sizable differences as nations work toward a deal this year to fight global warming.

President Barack Obama called the Major Economies Forum to relaunch a process that began under his predecessor, George W. Bush, whose initiative drew skepticism from countries who feared it would circumvent wider United Nations negotiations.

The two-day meeting was meant to pave the way for international talks in Copenhagen in December to forge a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which limits climate-warming greenhouse emissions and expires in 2012.

Results were mixed. Delegates praised the constructive atmosphere and Washington's shift on climate policy, while activists and some European officials said more needed to be done.

"I come out of this meeting if anything a bit more optimistic," said Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change, referring to the potential for a global deal.

"That does not change the fact that the issues are extremely difficult, that it's not going to be easy to reach an agreement."

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said a lot had changed since the Bush process but that greater commitments from industrialized nations, including the United States, would be necessary to succeed in Copenhagen.

"It was very clear that the Americans are moving a lot," he told reporters. "Measured by what Europeans believe needs to be done to fight climate change, we're still very far apart from each other."