The United States must take on a leading role in combatting global warming, the head of the country's delegation to climate change talks said in an interview published Wednesday.
"The US should take on a greater role (in cutting greenhouse gas emissions) that is commensurate with our economic standing," Paula Dobriansky told the Financial Times.
The American under-secretary of state for democracy and global affairs said that while the United States would agree to cut its emissions, the amount by which it would do so had yet "to be sorted through".
She acknowledged that "as a developed economy, we should be taking on a greater role here."
Dobriansky added, however, that rapidly-growing developing countries would have to agree to legally-binding emissions cuts, and warned that the poorest countries also had a role to play.
"You have to look at national characteristics and circumstances, to look at where these countries are in terms of their economies, where they are in terms of their overall capacity," she told the business daily.
"We have been strong proponents at looking at varied national characteristics and taking this into account in determining what role and responsibility countries would be taking.
"Even those that have limited capacity (have) something to contribute."
