Obama: Copenhagen important breakthrough on climate

US 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."

The 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. (Reuters)