AFP - The United States on Thursday officially stated a goal to cut carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 off 2005 levels, in a submission to the United Nations as part of last month's Copenhagen meeting.

The United States said it expected to cut emissions blamed for global warming "in the range of 17 percent" and "anticipated" that Congress would approve legislation to meet the target.

"The US submission reflects President Obama's continued commitment to meeting the climate change and clean energy challenge," US climate envoy Todd Stern said in a letter to UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.

"We expect that all major economies will honor their agreement in Copenhagen to submit their mitigation targets or actions," he said.

The summit asked nations to report by January 31 whether they would associate themselves with the accord and join efforts to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, whose legal obligations run out at the end of 2012.