Obama, Rudd news conference on environment

L'AQUILA, July 9 Reuters) - Following are comments at a news conference with U.S. President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

OBAMA

"While we don't expect to solve this problem in one meeting or one summit. I believe we made some important strides forward as we move toward Copenhagen.

"Ice sheets are melting, sea levels are rising, our oceans are becoming more acidic and we have already seen its effects on weather patterns our food and water sources and our habitats.

"Every nation on this planet is at risk and just as no one nation is responsible for climate change, no one nation can address it alone.

"Developing nations have real and understandable concerns about the role they will play in these efforts. They want to make sure that they do not have to sacrifice their aspirations for development and higher living standards. Yet with most of the growth in projected emissions coming from these countries, their active participation is a prerequisite for a solution.

"We also agree that developed countries like my own have a historic responsibility to take the lead. We have a much larger carbon footprint per capita. I know that in the past the United States has sometimes fallen short of meeting our responsibilities. Let me be clear: those days are over.

"One of my highest priorities as president is to drive a clean energy transformation of our economy."

"...As I wrestle with these issues politically in my own country, I see that it is going to be absolutely critical that all of us go beyond what is expected if we are going to achieve our goals ... This week the G8 came to a historic consensus on concrete goals for reducing carbon emissions. We all agreed that by 2050 developed nations will reduce their emissions by 80 percent and that we will work with all nations to cut global emissions in half. This ambitious effort is consistent with limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, which ... is what the mainstream of the scientific community has called for."