Washington - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the United States and Europe to take a leadership role in the world's effort to combat climate change, saying the trans-Atlantic partners must set an example for emerging economic powers. "There is no doubt about it, in December the world will look to us, the European and the Americans," Merkel told a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday.
Merkel received a rare invitation to address the House and Senate to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but she had also made clear she would take up climate change as a key part of her speech ahead of a UN summit in Copenhagen in December.
US President Barack Obama has struggled to get a climate bill through Congress, even within his own Democratic Party, which holds the majority. Republicans have also argued that a climate agreement left unsigned by China and India would be disadvantageous to American competitiveness.
"I am convinced that once we in Europe and in America show ourselves ready to adopt a climate agreement we will also be able to persuade China and India to come in," she said through a translator.
