By Ben Hirschler and Jonathan Lynn
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Denmark's prime minister called on rich and poor countries alike to commit to big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of key year-end talks on a new climate treaty in Copenhagen.
"It is essential to engage heads of state and government stronger in the whole process to ensure a positive result in Copenhagen," Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Friday.
Business leaders meeting in the Swiss ski resort this week have called on governments to create certainty on the climate issue, so they can plan for the future.
And hopes that a deal may be possible have increased since the election of what many see as a "green" U.S. president.
Rasmussen said world leaders should agree on a long-term goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2050, with industrialized countries cutting by 80 percent.
By 2020 -- a timeframe more relevant to political cycles -- the rich world should cut by 30 percent versus 1990 levels and developing countries by 15-30 percent against current trends, he said.
Leading industrial nations agreed at a G8 summit in Japan last July to a "vision" of cutting world emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2050. The European Union wants all developed countries to cut greenhouse gases by 25 to 40 percent by 2020.
Valerie Jarrett, Barack Obama's adviser on intergovernmental relations, earlier told the Davos meeting that the United States was "ready to lead" in the fight against global warming, which threatens droughts, floods, disease and rising seas.
That has raised hopes among those pushing for action.
"For the last eight years a few countries have been hiding behind the U.S.," said Steve Howard, head of Britain's The Climate Group, a non-profit group working for climate change.
"Now there is no place to hide because the U.S. is assuming a leadership position, so the politics took a fundamental shift."
The recession now gripping the world is set to slow industrial emissions in coming years, which could dim pressure to commit to cutbacks and divert attention from the issue.
Some economists estimate emissions fell 35 percent in the great depression of the 1930s, and might do so again.
Rasmussen, however, said fighting climate change -- including setting up a global fund to fund green energy technology -- could act as a key stimulus to stuttering economies.
"There is no contradiction between an ambitious climate policy and our endeavors to overcome the financial crisis," he said.
(Editing by Gerard Wynn and Simon Jessop)
