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'Seal a deal', climate talks told 'Seal a deal', climate talks told
(about 2 hours later)
The high-level segment at the UN climate summit has opened, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon telling nations to "seal a deal" on climate change. Three days of action from ministers are needed to "seal a deal" at the climate talks in Copenhagen, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He told delegates in Copenhagen that they had the chance to change history. Speaking at the opening of the high-level segment here, he told delegates they had the chance to change history.
But he added: "We do not have another year to deliberate; nature does not negotiate with us." But governments remain deadlocked on many key issues, including the size of emission targets, finance, and verification of emission curbs.
Earlier, a senior UN official warned that negotiations were progressing too slowly and that there was still an "enormous amount of work to be done". Demonstrations are expected on Wednesday as ministers convene.
"For three years, I have sought to bring world leaders to the table," Mr Ban said. "Three years of effort comes down to three days of action." Campaign groups are talking of mounting actions inside and outside the conference centre.
He urged the gathered negotiators not to "falter in the home stretch". There is anger about the glacial progress of some segments of the talks and about logistical problems that have seen most people from NGOs unable to enter the venue.
"No-one will get everything they want. But if we work together then everyone will get what they need." UK Climate Secretary Ed Miliband acknowledged that talks "could still fail".
'Compromise' 'Decisive moment'
Delegates have been poring over the details of a new draft text, ahead of the start of the high-level segment. Mr Ban told delegates there was still an "enormous amount of work to be done" if a deal was to be achieved.
When it comes to the air we breathe and the water we drink, there are no national boundaries Prince of Wales Prince's climate change warningWhen it comes to the air we breathe and the water we drink, there are no national boundaries Prince of Wales Prince's climate change warning
On Friday, about 130 world leaders are set to attend the summit's final session. "For three years, I have sought to bring world leaders to the table," he said.
Connie Hedegaard, the conference's president, told the opening ceremony: "The key word for the next two days must be compromise." "No-one will get everything they want; but if we work together, then everyone will get what they need."
"Success is still within reach, but... I must also warn you: we can fail," she added. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told ministers they must make this conference "a decisive moment of change".
The Prince of Wales, a life-long campaigner on environmental issues, used his address to the conference to call for unity. "Climate change is higher on the agenda than ever before," he said.
"When it comes to the air we breathe and the water we drink, there are no national boundaries," he said. "And so it should be; the grim projections from science grow more alarming each day and already many face the dire consequences of global warming."
"We all depend on each other - and, crucially, on each other's actions - for our weather, our food, our water and our energy." Different visions of what the science implies are, though, the cause of one of the most fundamental fault lines running between delegations here - what figure should be adopted as the target for limiting the global average temperature rise since pre-industrial times.
He warned a partial solution was "no solution at all" and called for an "inclusive" and "comprehensive" approach that "strengthened the resilience of our ecosystems."
At a briefing on Tuesday, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned that the talks had reached a "distinct and important moment".
"We have - over the last week or so - seen progress in a number of areas, but we haven't seen enough of it," he told reporters.
Prince Charles: "Our planet has reached a point of crisis"Prince Charles: "Our planet has reached a point of crisis"
"There is still an enormous amount of work and ground to be covered if this conference is to deliver what people expect it to deliver." Mr Ban came under fire from developing countries after asserting in a BBC interview that a deal here must "put us on the path of limiting global temperature rise within 2C".
Elsewhere, a row erupted after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for the summit to focus on limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2.0C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels. Small island states, and other countries that consider themselves vulnerable to climate impacts, have been demanding a lower target of 1.5C and the issue is still under negotiation.
His comments angered a number of developing nations delegations, who have been campaigning for the rise to be limited to 1.5C (2.7C), or even 1.0C (1.8F). "It is simply a true fact - if temperatures get to 2C, that spells disaster and almost doom to our countries," said Bruno Sekoli of the Lesotho delegation, which chairs the bloc of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
'Twin-track' talks Bolivia's ambassador, Pablo Solon, added: "This is the Secretary General; he can't take sides on an issue like this."
On Monday, the talks were temporarily suspended after a delegation representing developing nations withdrew their co-operation. Britain's Prince Charles, who also addressed the opening of the high-level segment of the conference, said the planet had "reached a crisis" which society had just seven years to solve.
"With issues of such magnitude," he said, "it is easy to focus solely on the challenges, the worst-case scenarios, the 'what-ifs' of failure.
"But take a moment to consider the opportunities if we succeed... a healthier, safer and more sustainable, economically robust world."
Stumbling blocks
Elsewhere in the conference, discussions continued - mainly behind closed doors - on some of the issues that continue to divide governments two years after the process towards a new global climate deal started and just three days before it is due to conclude.

COPENHAGEN LATEST

  • Conference president Connie Hedegaard says the keyword for the rest of the summit will be "compromise"
  • UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer warns that negotiations are progressing too slowly
  • Organisers are unable to accommodate all of the people who want to enter the venue
  • UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon warns "time is running out", as negotiations continue through Monday night
Updated: 18:12 GMT, 15 December

COPENHAGEN LATEST

  • Conference president Connie Hedegaard says the keyword for the rest of the summit will be "compromise"
  • UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer warns that negotiations are progressing too slowly
  • Organisers are unable to accommodate all of the people who want to enter the venue
  • UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon warns "time is running out", as negotiations continue through Monday night
Updated: 18:12 GMT, 15 December
Following the action by the African group, supported by the wider G77-China bloc of developing nations, some sessions ran long into the night as negotiators tried to make up lost time. Mr Miliband, who co-chaired talks on finance, said there had been acknowledgement of the need for "significantly scaled-up public funding".
The Danish conference hosts had been accused of trying to sideline negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol by packaging discussion of outstanding difficult issues from across the various strands into a single informal session. Developing countries have demanded that a majority, if not all, of the money they will receive in future for clean development and climate adaptation should come from public funds; but developed nations have been equally keen that a substantial share - perhaps the majority - should come from levies on the prospective global carbon market.
Developing countries are adamant that developed nations still inside the protocol - all except the US - must commit to further emission cuts under its aegis. Another of the discussion groups, on emission pledges by developing countries, made little progress.
After discussions with the Danes and UN climate convention officials, the informal talks were split as the G77-China bloc had demanded. A senior source told the BBC that the main stumbling block was US insistence that commitments should be legally binding.
One group, chaired by Germany and Indonesia, is examining further emission cuts by developed nations under the Kyoto Protocol. China in particular is adamant that such plans must be voluntary and that emission curbs should not be subject to international verification - something that many members of the US Senate are said to regard as key if they are to back any agreement here.
Another, chaired by the UK and Ghana, is looking at long-term financing to help poorer countries develop along "green" lines and protect themselves against impacts of climate change. US chief negotiator Todd Stern said he did not expect the US to increase its current offer of cutting emissions by about 3% from 1990 levels by 2020.
"I am not anticipating any change in the mitigation commitment," he told reporters.
The US announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to attend the final two days of the summit, in addition to President Barack Obama.
Walk-outs
Around the conference centre, campaign groups gave advance notice of actions expected inside and outside the venue on Wednesday.

CLIMATE CHANGE GLOSSARY

Glossary in full

CLIMATE CHANGE GLOSSARY

Glossary in full
A senior Chinese source, meanwhile, confirmed to BBC News that China would not accept any money from the West for these purposes. Having allowed three times more people to register than the centre can hold, the UN climate convention and the Danish hosts have limited numbers of NGOs to 7,000 on Wednesday, falling to 1,000 on Thursday and just 90 on Friday when heads of state and government are scheduled to attend.
This is likely to carry political significance in the US, where some legislators are adamant that domestic carbon-cutting measures must not hand funds to the country set to emerge as its biggest economic rival. Activists are planning a series of morning marches outside the centre, with some groups attempting unauthorised entry.
Here, the positions of the world's two largest emitters are very much at odds, with China rejecting US demands that its emission curbs must be subject to international verification. A walkout - possibly involving government delegates - is anticipated, and there are also plans for a "sleep-in" on Wednesday night.
The US also rejected the notion that it would deepen its offer of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. Organisers say the actions are intended to be non-violent.
"I am not anticipating any change in the mitigation commitment," US chief delegate Todd Stern told reporters, saying that Washington's stance had already been spelt out by President Barack Obama. href="mailto:Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk" >Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Last month, the US administration announced a series of emission targets. It pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, 30% by 2025, 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050.
China has accused developed countries of backtracking on what it says are their obligations to fight climate change and has warned that the UN climate talks in Copenhagen have entered a critical stage.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said there had been "some regression" on the part of developed countries, who had "put forward a plethora" of demands on developing countries.
Beijing's view is that the US and other richer nations have a historical responsibility to cut emissions, and any climate deal should take into account a country's development level.
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