Washington shies away from commitments

Delegates from the United States made no concrete commitments at the Doha climate conference on Wednesday, despite great pressure both domestically and internationally.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on the US to take a leading role in climate-change issues and provide more technology and financial support to developing countries.

In US President Barack Obama's re-election victory speech in November, he mentioned "the destructive power of a warming planet".