Climate pact text not fit for approval yet

Nina Chestney and Darcy Lambton, Reuters 12 Nov 09;

LONDON (Reuters) - The current negotiating text for a global climate agreement is not fit to be approved yet, the head of the European Commission's environment department Karl Falkenberg told Reuters Insider TV on Thursday.

"The text on which we are working is not in a state where I am secure to say we can approve the treaty at Copenhagen," Falkenberg said.

"We are three weeks away from an outcome in Copenhagen and in substance we have a lot of work ahead of us."

World leaders will meet in Copenhagen on December 7-18 for a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen where leaders are scheduled to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Hopes for a treaty in December faded last week when delegates at U.N. climate talks in Barcelona said a deal may need an extra year or more, beyond the original December deadline.

Three major problems for leaders include agreeing on emission cut commitments, agreeing on technology to take countries away from high-carbon dependency and a financial package to help developing countries tackle climate change.

Concerns are mounting that a legally binding agreement will not emerge from Copenhagen talks, but rather a political framework for future discussions.

"I'm not sure we should focus so much on the terms 'political' or 'legal'," Falkenberg said.

"There needs to be a deal agreed by the leaders in Copenhagen. We may need to take some time to transform it into the right form but the substance is key."

At the heart of clinching a deal to satisfy everyone is the involvement of the United States, the EU environment chief said.

"We would expect that on the international scene, the U.S. administration will make commitments (to 2020 and 2050) and then translate this at home into legislative acts (...) Whether this is achieved before or after Copenhagen is an internal problem," he said.

A U.S. climate bill cleared a hurdle in the U.S. Senate last week. When it gets final approval, the legislation would require U.S. industry to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases by 20 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by William Hardy)