http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001042093/en

 

Ban Ki-moon, secretary- general of the UN, has warned that "grave economic troubles" and political divisions meant a new global climate treaty may be "beyond our reach", darkening the mood at international climate talks in South Africa.

 

"We must be realistic about expectations for a breakthrough," said Mr Ban. "The ultimate goal of a comprehensive and binding climate change agreement may be beyond our reach - for now."

His admission capped a day of rising tension at the talks, where familiar suspicions between wealthy and emerging economies began spilling into the open.

With just four days to go before negotiators are supposed to wrap up a deal at the two-week conference, the European Union cast doubt on China's credibility and India accused wealthy countries of making unfair demands.

Negotiators from more than 190 countries are under pressure to seal a deal extending the main provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, the world's only binding climate treaty, before they expire in 12 months.

The treaty bound only industrialised countries to curb their emissions and the number willing to sign up for a second round of pledges has dwindled.

Delegates are trying to agree on how to start negotiating a more comprehensive pact that would eventually cover all nations, including emerging economies whose emissions are rapidly rising.

But the fate of both targets was still unclear yesterday. The EU, which is pushing hard for a new global deal, cast doubt on suggestions from China's delegation head, Xie Zhenhua, that Beijing might agree to a new legally enforceable pact.

"Minister Xie spoke warmly about the need for a legally binding deal. Does that then mean China will also be legally bound?" said Connie Hedegaard, the EU climate commissioner, on Twitter.

Mr Xie later appeared with the rest of the so-called Basic group of countries - India, South Africa and Brazil - where India's environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, expressed frustration with industrialised countries that urge poorer nations to do more.

"We have walked the extra mile," she said, citing studies showing developing countries were adopting more climate policies than developed nations. "Basic countries are not major polluters."