Obama Meets With World Leaders To Discuss Environment And Economy

President Barack Obama joined fellow world leaders in Italy Wednesday for talks on threats to global security and stability at a summit where climate change, a continuing global economic crisis, nuclear proliferation and world hunger took top billing.

Obama and the leaders of seven other industrialized nations met in the picturesque town of L’Aquila, northeast of Rome, and later were to widen their circle to include fast-growing countries like China and India, and struggling nations from Africa. In large and small groups, the talks will involve trade, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, food security and other issues.

As Obama’s motorcade snaked through the city, other government officials reached an agreement with the United States to embrace a target of limiting the rise in average planetary temperatures to 3.6 degrees (2 degrees Celsius) higher than they were in 1900, before widespread industrialization. Scientists say an increase beyond that could trigger dangerous rises in sea level and other dire problems.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle, met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the stately Quirinale Palace in Rome, meeting his host in a spectacular setting that included a large room with a soaring ceiling, gilded walls and doors and huge chandeliers.

He said the two countries among other things “are working hand in hand in places like Afghanistan to ensure that we’re isolating extremists and strengthening the forces of moderation around the world.” Obama also said he and Napolitano agreed that efforts must continue in the area of “raising standards on financial institutions” to protect against future global economic meltdowns.

Obama made a major speech in Moscow after jointly declaring with Soviet President Dmtry Medvedev a desire to find agreement by year’s end on a treaty to slash U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles by a third. Barring a breakthrough on climate change, or perhaps new sanctions against Iran, the emotional highlight of Obama’s Italy trip may be his audience Friday with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.

Steven Schrage, a business scholar at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the G-8 sometimes struggles for a clear-cut identity and purpose. The best title for this week’s meeting, he said, might be “G-question mark.”