Expectations low at pre-Copenhagen UN climate summit (1st Lead)

Nov 2, 2009, 10:08 GMT

Barcelona - United Nations climate negotiators from around the world came together Monday in the Spanish city of Barcelona, with low expectations for a breakthrough ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference in December.

The five-day talks are the last preparatory ones before the December 7-18 conference will seek an agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse emissions by 2012.

The possibilities of a breakthrough were regarded as very slight, after UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said a legally binding agreement was no longer possible in Copenhagen.

After two years of negotiations, many points remained open, with negotiators hoping for a 'political agreement' at best.

Unresolved questions included the commitment level of developing countries to cut greenhouse emissions, technology transfers and an eventual climate fund.

Demonstrators from the environmental organization Greenpeace climbed up cranes at the building site of the unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral, hanging up banners urging the meeting to 'save the climate.'

German Greenpeace representative Martin Kaiser described the United States as 'the main problem' in protecting the climate.

Washington had not set sufficient goals in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and made 'no concrete pledges' to developing countries in helping them finance measures to combat climate change, Kaiser told the German Press Agency dpa in Barcelona.

The result of the Copenhagen meeting now depended on US President Barack Obama, Kaiser stressed, urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the issue with Obama during her visit to Washington early this week.

The United States, which has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, could no longer get 'special treatment' in dealing with the climate crisis, Kaiser said, stressing the need for 'binding international goals and rules.'

Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea appeared willing to table concrete plans to reduce emissions in Barcelona, making it look like developing countries were more active in fighting global warming than industrialized countries were, the Greenpeace representative said.