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.
U.S. 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 U.N. negotiations.
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said a lot had changed since the Bush process but he said greater commitments from industrialized nations, including the United States, would be necessary to seal a global deal.
"It was very clear that the Americans are moving a lot," he told reporters during a break from the meeting. "Measured by what Europeans believe needs to be done to fight climate change, we're still very far apart from each other."
Obama's goal is to cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by roughly 15 percent by 2020, back to 1990 levels.
The European Union has pledged to cut emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and says it would pursue a 30 percent cut if other industrialized nations follow suit.
Obama wants the United States to lead in the climate change fight, but U.S. officials have indicated they do not see a lot of room for maneuver on the 2020 goal.
"To speak of America taking over the leading role in climate change -- as a European, one can confidently say that the United States are far away from that," Gabriel said.
"Europe still has this leadership role, but we would happily share it with the Americans."
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.
Bush opposed the Kyoto Protocol, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy and unfairly exempted fast-growing economies such as China and India.
The major economies represented at the meeting include Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
