A legally-binding treaty was unlikely to be reached in global climate talks in Copenhagen next month, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.
But Clinton said the US expects a strong framework could be achieved in the Dec 7-18 meeting.
"We're going to Copenhagen 100 percent committed to creating a framework agreement," she told a televised forum with students before ending her two-day visit in Manila.
"We doubt that we can get to the legally-binding agreement that everybody wants because too many countries have too many questions," she added.
"But we think that we can come up with a very strong framework agreement."
Clinton called on developing countries like the Philippines "to take advantage of the financing that developed countries will put forward for adaptation" in Copenhagen.
About 40 world leaders are expected to attend the Copenhagen conference, which follows two years of negotiations for an agreement that would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.