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Time runs short for climate deal UN climate talks near chaotic end
(about 3 hours later)
  By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Durban   By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Durban
UN climate talks may be running out of time to make an agreement. At UN climate talks in South Africa, the host government says agreement has been reached on many of the key issues.
Many hours into an unscheduled extra day, some ministers have already left, and the South African hosts have yet to show a strategy for closing the deal. But some delegations are very unhappy with elements of the draft text drawn up by the hosts, in particular on the "roadmap" to a binding global deal.
Further delay was caused by the distribution of a fake document purporting to be an official text. The EU and many small, poor nations want a legally-binding deal that will curb emissions well before 2020.
The real texts would see a process leading to a new global emission-cutting deal covering all countries begin next year, finishing by 2015. But the draft text talks only of curbs after 2020, and does not specify a legally-binding outcome.
They would see EU countries and perhaps other developed nations putting their current emission-cutting pledges under the legally-binding Kyoto Protocol. "The latest text is not acceptable to us and to many other parties," said UK Climate Secretary Chris Huhne.
The package is backed by the EU, and by the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) bloc, which together represent more than 70 of the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable nations. "The UK, as part of the EU, will continue to push for the most credible deal that meets the needs of the science."
But it is unclear whether the BASIC group of Brazil, South Africa, India and China, or the US, can live with the ambition they contain for curbing emissions. Many other issues are tied up in long documents before delegates, who have embarked on a series of official sessions at which all the texts must be approved.
It is unclear also whether conclusion can be reached before real-world concerns such as delegates' flights and use of the convention centre force a closure. If they cannot reach agreement, there is a real prospect of talks collapsing.
While ministers from richer nations including the UK have already changed flights, not everyone is able to do so; and there is even talk that the meeting could become inquorate. 'Lack of urgency'
Small-group meetings are also continuing on the main points, though it is hard to see what can be achieved, given the incompatibility of the basic positions.
An added complication is that some ministers have already left, with the meeting running more than a day beyond its scheduled close.
The South African hosts have come in for a lot of criticism over a perceived lack of strategy and urgency.
And the new draft text appears to go back towards the position of the few big, important countries opposing a strong deal - the US, Brazil, China, and India among them.
"There's so much clarity about the crisis - when even the International Energy Agency says 'you've got five years', it couldn't be clearer," said Tim Gore, senior policy adviser with Oxfam."There's so much clarity about the crisis - when even the International Energy Agency says 'you've got five years', it couldn't be clearer," said Tim Gore, senior policy adviser with Oxfam.
"And if they can't find a way to solve it with everyone in the room, they have to do it with those that want to, leaving the US behind.""And if they can't find a way to solve it with everyone in the room, they have to do it with those that want to, leaving the US behind."
Consternation and fury
Delegate after delegate says time is slipping away, and there are repeated mutterings about a lack of urgency and strategy from the hosts.
What delayed matters further was a fake text issued apparently by the South African presidency after consultation with the EU, US, Brazil, India and China.What delayed matters further was a fake text issued apparently by the South African presidency after consultation with the EU, US, Brazil, India and China.
Consternation and fury
It contained weaker targets and longer timescales, and was initially greeted with consternation by the EU, Aosis and the LDCs, which have been pressing hardest for a strong deal.It contained weaker targets and longer timescales, and was initially greeted with consternation by the EU, Aosis and the LDCs, which have been pressing hardest for a strong deal.
The consternation turned to fury when it was discovered that the text was fake. European officials said it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to stall negotiations.The consternation turned to fury when it was discovered that the text was fake. European officials said it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to stall negotiations.
The perpetrator has not been identified. But it appears likely that the aim was to fracture the ad-hoc partnership between the EU and its developing world allies.The perpetrator has not been identified. But it appears likely that the aim was to fracture the ad-hoc partnership between the EU and its developing world allies.
The real draft, meanwhile, proposes that the "roadmap" towards a new deal encompassing all countries would begin in the New Year and complete by 2015 at the latest.
If accepted, it would also spell out - for the first time in the UN climate process - that there is a mismatch, a gap, between the pledges countries have already made on cutting emissions and the cuts necessary to keep global temperatures within 2C of pre-industrial levels.
Climate change glossary Select a term to learn more:
Adaptation Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought. Glossary in full		 Climate change glossary Select a term to learn more:
Adaptation Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought. Glossary in full
Developing countries have insisted that EU nations must put their existing pledges on restricting emissions under the Kyoto Protocol; and this is also in the drafts. The real earlier draft, released on Saturday morning, proposed that the "roadmap" towards a new deal encompassing all countries would begin in the New Year and complete by 2015 at the latest, to come into force at an unspecified later stage.
That does not mean tougher cuts in Europe in the near future, but it would put EU pledges under an international legal framework. If also spelled out the fact that there is a mismatch, a gap, between the pledges countries have already made on cutting emissions and the cuts necessary to keep global temperatures within 2C of pre-industrial levels.
Developing countries have insisted that EU nations must put their existing pledges on restricting emissions under the Kyoto Protocol; and this appears to have survived through to the latest text.
It would not mean tougher cuts in Europe in the near future, but it would put EU pledges under an international legal framework.
Agreement on managing the Green Climate Fund, which will eventually gather and disburse finance amounting to $100bn per year to help poor countries develop cleanly and adapt to climate impacts, also appears within reach.Agreement on managing the Green Climate Fund, which will eventually gather and disburse finance amounting to $100bn per year to help poor countries develop cleanly and adapt to climate impacts, also appears within reach.
Aosis and the LDCs have repeatedly accused India of being one of the hard-line blockers alongside the US and China. But with disagreement clearly manifesting itself in early exchanges in the formal sessions, everything could be held hostage to the main disagreement on the roadmap.
But India's Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said this was not the case.
She said her concern had been to understand what the EU "roadmap" to a new agreement involved.
"I don't find myself at odds [with Aosis] at all, I think I share their concerns - they want quick action, we want quick action," she told BBC News.
"The fact of the matter is there should be very quick action, and my very quick action is that want a review of what Annex One countries (the traditional developed nations) have done and we want to know how far they've gone, and I'm willing to listen to what Aosis says."
But her German counterpart Norbert Roettgen said India was part of a blocking trinity.
"Only a very few countries stand in the way of an agreement here," he said.
"These are the main emitters, as been the case throughout the week - the US, China, and India."
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