BEIJING — A clutch of major emerging economies including China and India have forged a united front to put pressure on developed countries at next month’s climate change negotiations in Copenhagen. Over two days of quietly arranged talks in Beijing, the countries said they had reached agreement on major issues, including the need for the West to provide finance and technology to help developing nations combat global warming. The meeting was attended by senior officials from China, India, Brazil and South Africa as well as Sudan, the current chairman of the Group of 77 developing countries. ‘The purpose of the meeting was to prepare for and contribute to a positive, ambitious and equitable outcome in Copenhagen,’ according to a statement released after the talks, which took place on Friday evening and Saturday. ‘We believe that this work represents a good starting point and we will continue to work together over the next few days and weeks as our contribution towards a consensus in Copenhagen,’ the statement said. The meeting in Copenhagen was supposed to yield the outlines of a broader and tougher legally binding climate agreement to expand or replace the Kyoto Protocol, whose first […]