June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is unlikely to agree to a global treaty on climate change unless China, now the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, makes a meaningful commitment to a worldwide solution, said Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“The message is clear: America is no more likely to enter into a legally binding global solution in 2009 than it was back in the 1990s when we debated Kyoto unless China is part of the solution,” Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at a hearing today.

More than 190 delegations to a December summit in Copenhagen are negotiating a treaty to reduce the emissions that most scientists say contribute to global warming. Those delegations will be taking their cues from the U.S. and China, which together account for almost half of global greenhouse-gas emissions, Kerry said.

“A robust American partnership with China will do more than anything else to ensure a successful global response to the urgent threat of climate change,” Kerry said at the hearing to discuss cooperation between the two countries.

The top U.S. envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, travels to China June 6 for three days of talks on a global climate agreement and to seek a partnership with China on clean-energy efforts.

Among the potential areas of cooperation for the U.S. and China are technologies to improve energy efficiency in vehicles and buildings, and to capture and store carbon from power plants, Stern said yesterday.

No Firm Agreements

The U.S. won’t come back with any firm agreements and the trip is designed to lay the foundation for future accords, Stern said.

Kerry traveled to China last week to discuss climate change. “Chinese decision makers insisted to me repeatedly that China now grasps the urgency of this problem,” he said.

The Asian nation is working to make “significant emissions reductions,” including tripling its wind-energy-use targets and investing $200 billion in so-called green-energy projects.

China is ready to be a “positive, constructive” player in Copenhagen, Kerry said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in Washington, at cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 4, 2009 11:24 EDT