The Obama administration is facing widespread calls to keep its pledge to actively engage in efforts for a binding agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gases at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. On Wednesday, a coalition of 16 environmental groups signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling the United States “a major obstacle” to progress on averting environmental catastrophe. Signatories included Greenpeace USA, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Oxfam America, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the World Wildlife Fund. The letter’s release came as the European Union delegation in Durban issued a rare challenge to the United States, urging it to uphold its promises. The European Union climate negotiator in Durban, Artur Runge-Metzger, said the United States needs to do more to address climate change.

Artur Runge-Metzger: “I think what we expect from the United States is that they stick very clearly to their pledge they have been making in Cancún, and that they show very clearly that they are going to implement what they have promised in their domestic actions. I think they have taken some measures, but some more things need to be done. So that is clearly what we would expect from the United States.”