Differences remain at Major Economic Forum meeting

WASHINGTON: The two-day Major Economies Forum (MEF) meeting on Climate Change concluded here today with differences remaining on critical issues among members of this 17-country grouping including India.

"I think there was some narrowing of differences. There are plenty of differences that remain," Special US Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said.

"But it was a pretty full ventilation of views in a way that the MEF is designed to promote," he told reporters after the meeting at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.

Responding to a question, Stern said the narrowing of differences had to do with issues of adaptation, technology, the way you reflect mitigation actions and the nature of measurement, reporting and verification.

"Again, the narrowing doesn't mean the differences have disappeared. It means that there was a thorough airing, people understood and I think that there was a narrowing of differences, but they haven't disappeared," Stern said.

Set up by US President Barack Obama early this year, MEF comprises of 17 major economies of the world including India. Other economies are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Britain and the US.