Goals for the talks include sketching national measures for curbing emissions, setting long-term pollution objectives and looking at how technology, forestation and financing for developing countries can help the carbon cleanup, AFP reported.
But the Guardian newspaper reported one European diplomat as describing the US meeting as a "spoiler" for a UN conference planned for Bali in December.
The nations taking part are Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States, which together account for more than 90% of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
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