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UN Climate Treaty Could Take More Time

Posted on: Friday, 6 November 2009, 14:35 CST

Climate officials at a UN meeting on Thursday said it could take an additional year to form a new climate treaty.

Delegates from 175 nations gathered in Spain this week to discuss plans going into a UN meeting in Copenhagen next month. Delegates are expected to create the blueprint for a climate treaty to replace Kyoto protocol after 2012.

But as international climate negotiators have set their sights on next month’s meeting, many delegates said this week that it could take up to 12 additional months to reach an agreement.

Rich and poor nations are still unable to agree on which among them should bear the most weight from an international treaty.

According to AFP, European Union and British officials on Thursday announced that the Copenhagen agreement could become a framework for a more in-depth treaty that would be formed later in 2010.

"Developed country emission reductions as a whole are currently projected to be eight to 12 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 after accounting for forestry credits, rather than the 25-40 percent described as necessary," said Michiel Schaeffer of Climate Analytics, a policy research group in Potsdam, Germany.

"When we left (UN talks in) Bali two years ago, we all expected that would be agreeing on a legally binding outcome to respond to the urgency... that we were on the verge of catastrophic climate change, so we're very disappointed," BBC quoted Selwin Hart from Barbados.

"If we don't take urgent and ambitious action, the reality is that some small island developing states will not be around within a couple of decades - certainly not by the end of the century."

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On the Net:

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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