Durban: Ministers fought to save UN climate talks from collapse yesterday, searching to narrow differences between rich and poor nations over how quickly to fight global warming.
Ministerial negotiations in the South African port city of Durban were put off until the afternoon but with many delegates due to head home there was a strong chance real decisions would be put off until next year.
That would be a major setback for host South Africa and raise the prospect that the Kyoto Protocol, the only global pact that enforces carbon cuts, could expire at the end of next year with no successor treaty in place.
"It's a complete mess in there, but we are still trying to reach a deal," said one western delegate outside the building where ministers were trying to hammer out an accord.
Help for the poor
Negotiators were arguing over the wording of a range of highly technical sections that make up the broad agreement, which covers a range of topics from greenhouse gas emissions targets to forestry accounting rules, green tech transfers and cash to help poor countries adapt to climate change.
Two weeks of talks between almost 200 states in the South African port of Durban were due to end on Friday. But island nations and developing states most affected by global warming rebelled over an initial draft accord. They demanded a more ambitious text that could offer hope to low-lying countries under threat from the rising sea-levels and extreme weather linked to global warming.
