Paris, France – The United States has announced it is ready to commit to international greenhouse gas reduction goals as long as the agreement includes the world’s major economies, both developed and developing countries.

Advisers to President George W. Bush made the declaration yesterday at a Paris press conference, according to news reports.

Daniel Price, an adviser on international economic affairs, and James Connaughton, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, spoke in anticipation of an April meeting in France among the 17 major economies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States.

The nations, which account for 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, previously met in Washington and Hawaii within the last year.

Price and Connaughton said the United States would be willing to accept binding greenhouse gas goals if developing countries like Brazil, China and India accepted the same obligations. The United States’ reason for not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol was that it did not include targets for developing countries.

The advisers said the agreement could likely be finalized around the same time as the July G8 summit in Japan.