German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to the US Congress yesterday to back binding international climate change targets, evoking the spirit that saw the Berlin Wall torn down.

Becoming the first German leader to address a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in 50 years, Mrs Merkel rallied against the “walls of short-sighted self-interest” as she urged the US to fall in line with Europe over global warming.

The address comes just weeks ahead of crucial talks in Copenhagen during which an international agreement needs to be reached, she said to a mixed response.

Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And Mrs Merkel took that historic event as a peg on which to urge the US to overcome new barriers preventing progress in today's world. Speaking largely through a translator she referred to obstacles preventing a united front against climate change as “the wall that seemingly separates the present from the future”.

She added: “This wall bars from view the needs of future generations and prevents us from doing what is urgently necessary to preserve the basis of our very lives and our climate.”

As she spoke many members of Congress broke into spontaneous applause. But in an indication that some US politicians remain unconvinced a large section remained motionless as she called for binding international standards.