Copenhagen - Some 700 business leaders meeting in Copenhagen on Tuesday capped a three-day meeting by adopting a call for "bold targets for emissions reductions by 2020 and 2050."

The targets were needed to prevent "the global average rise in temperature to a maximum of 2 degrees Centigrade compared to pre- industrial levels," which would pose a serious threshold according to climate researchers.

The statement mentioned the need to introduce "effective measurement, reporting and verification of emissions performance by business."

The three-day meeting took place in Copenhagen that in December is to host United Nations' key climate talks where countries are to seek to make proposals on the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Speakers included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former US vice president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

In his remarks Monday, Barroso underlined that the public sector alone cannot tackle climate change and said renewable energy could provide new jobs and business opportunities.

The wording of the final document was not sufficient, according to the British charity Oxfam. (dpa)