The European Union called on the United States this week to play a larger role in combating climate change, after Sweden described the Copenhagen summit last week as a “great failure.”

After over a year of planning, the climate talks came down to one thing – the inability of the world’s two largest emitters, the United States and China, to agree to fixed targets.

“Expectations and pressure on the United States have risen after Copenhagen … to really deliver,” Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said. “Europe never lost its aim, never, never came to splits or different positions, but of course this was mainly about other countries really (being) unwilling, and especially the United States and China.”

The EU went to Copenhagen with the hope of a global commitment to at least a 20% reduction in carbon emissions below 1990 levels within 10 years, but that and other firm goals failed to come out of the summit.