Representatives from 17 major economies plus the United Nations called for rapid progress in implementing the Bali roadmap as they wrapped up a two-day closed-door meeting on climate change on Thursday.

The participants "welcomed the Bali Action Plan to launch a comprehensive process to enable a full, effective and sustained implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to result in a decision in 2009 for a long-term cooperative action," said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality at the press event after the meeting.

They "underscored the importance of rapid progress in implementing the Bali Action Plan and noted that Major Economies Meetings can assist the UNFCCC toward a successful outcome," Connaughton said.

Describing the atmosphere of the meeting as "constructive", Connaughton said the participants have been focusing on how the US-sponsored meeting can contribute to the climate change negotiations under the UN framework.

The discussion took into account common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, he noted.

Using political jargons, the official said the participants also discussed the "desirability" of a summit by participating countries in mid-2008.

Known as the Major Economics Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change, the Honolulu meeting serves as a follow-up to the first round of US-hosted climate change talks among major economies last September in Washington.

The idea of bringing together the world's major economies for climate change talks was initiated by US President George W. Bush in May 2007, when the United States was under growing pressure to contribute more to solving the problem of greenhouse-gas emissions.

Although the Bush administration repeatedly said the meeting is simply to supplement the UN efforts in battling climate change, there are suspicions that it is intended to sidetrack the UN climate talks and push forward its own agenda on the issue, which the US government denies.

At the climate change talks in Bali, Indonesia, last December, the US government agreed to help constitute a new accord to replace the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

However, it is still resisting a global agreement on specific emission reduction from all developed nations.

At the Honolulu meeting, US officials reiterated that the country has different understandings on mandatory pollution reduction with the rest of the world.

"We have our own views on the issue," Connaughton said.

Some 160 representatives from the EU, the United Nations, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Britain and the United States attended the conference.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)