UN climate study puts diplomatic pressure on Obama to act

Those countries and nongovernmental organizations point to a 2009 pledge by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to create a $100 billion annual climate fund for poor countries by 2020. The World Bank justified such an expenditure in a 2010 report concluding that it would take up to $100 billion a year to offset the ravages of climate change on poor countries.

Climate policy experts say that the United States, as the world’s largest economy, would be expected to provide $20 billion to $30 billion of that annual fund.

That puts Mr. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been working aggressively behind the scenes to forge a United Nations climate change treaty in 2015, in a tough position.

But both men know there is no chance that a Congress focused on cutting domestic spending and jump-starting the economy will enact legislation agreeing to a huge increase in so-called climate aid. Since 2010, the Obama administration has spent about $2.5 billion a year to help foreign countries adapt to climate change and adopt low-carbon energy technology.