WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that an international climate accord reached in Copenhagen was an "important breakthrough" but stressed that it was only a step toward curbing global carbon emissions.
"For the first time in history, all of the world's major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action on the threat of climate change," Obama said in a statement after returning from the Danish capital overnight.
United Nations climate talks ended with a bare-minimum agreement that fell well short of the conference's original goals after prolonged negotiations failed to paper over differences between rich nations and the developing world.
Obama, who reached an accord at the last moment with China, India, Brazil and South Africa to avoid coming home empty handed, acknowledged that talks had been tough.
"After extremely difficult and complex negotiations, this important breakthrough laid the foundation for international action in the years to come," he said, speaking from a snow-bound White House as a winter storm blanketed Washington.
(Reporting by Alister Bull; editing by Anthony Boadle)
