Yahoo News 4 Jul 09;
ILULISSAT, Greenland (AFP) – Denmark's Minister for Climate Connie Hedegaard said here there was no "Plan B" if negotiations broke down for an ambitious climate accord at a December world summit in Copenhagen.
"It's clear, we are not working for a Plan B," Hedegaard said after a ministerial meeting of 29 countries from all continents to boost the talks that she said were going too slowly.
"To seal a deal in Copenhagen is a political challenge, not a technical one," Hedegaard said at a press conference in this western Greenland town, adding that the Greenland Dialogue launched by Denmark in 2005 was providing "political guidance" to the negotiations.
"On emission reductions, participants agreed that developed countries should explore how they can strengthen the ambition of their contribition and that developing countries' action must be strengthened -- all in order to meet the demands of science," the minister said.
"The world will be watching: strong leaders' guidance to the negotiations is urgently needed. Leaders bear an immense responsibility to provide this guidance now."
She admitted that "there are many obstacles, even some very big obstacles" and "there is not so much finance on the table" from the rich to the poor countries.
Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc told AFP: "The developed countries ask us for extra efforts when they themselves haven't applied the Kyoto Protocol." Everyone was waiting for a "strong signal" from the developed countries to help the others, he said.
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer told AFP that a "good result" could be achieved in Copenhagen.
"The number of very key political issues which need to be resolved is not terribly long," he said.
"We need clarity on rich countries' target, we would need clarity on what major developing countries will do to limit the growth of their emissions and we need clarity on finance and we need a new system to manage financial resources in the international level. There are basically the issues which need to be resolved in Copenhagen."
