Browner: Copenhagen outcome was progress

White House climate czar Carol Browner said Monday that last month's Copenhagen climate summit was a significant step forward despite falling short of expectations.

“What was important is that you now have both China and India . . . agreeing it is time to do something, and that hadn’t happened previously, so we are very encouraged by the progress that happened in Copenhagen,” Browner said in an online chat broadcast on the White House website.

“It is an important step and with time the world will find its way, I believe, to a binding international treaty,” Browner said. She added that in the meantime, the U.S. should focus its attention on enacting a comprehensive energy and climate law.

President Obama spent a frenzied day in ad-hoc meetings with leaders from several nations on December 18 to try and salvage the fractious two week talks.

The United Nations talks ended with a limited, non-binding accord in which many countries -- including China, the world's largest emitter -- will commit to implementing their national emissions-curbing pledges. But Obama has acknowledged the accord he helped broker will not generate sufficient worldwide greenhouse gas cuts.

It remains to be seen whether the underwhelming outcome will help or hinder slow-moving Senate efforts to pass climate legislation.

The unwieldy talks led several analysts -- such as Harvard's Robert Stavins -- to suggest it's time to look outside the U.N. process for global progress on emissions reductions.