UN chief: Time to stop climate finger-pointing

by JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer, December 15, 2009

COPENHAGEN – Rich and poor countries must "stop pointing fingers" and increase their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions to salvage the faltering talks on a global warming pact, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday.

Ban's warning came as world leaders started arriving in Copenhagen, kicking the two-week conference into high gear in its quest to deliver a deal to curb emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was among the first heads of state to touch down in the Danish capital, avoiding a travel ban imposed by Western nations because he was attending to a U.N. conference. Mugabe was to address the conference on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was also expected later Tuesday — coming to Copenhagen a day earlier than planned to help push the talks forward.

Ban told The Associated Press he remains cautiously optimistic of a successful outcome, but warned that negotiators on both sides must work out their differences and not leave it to world leaders to resolve the treaty's major problems.

"This is a time where they should exercise the leadership," Ban said. "And this is a time to stop pointing fingers, and this is a time to start looking in the mirror and offering what they can do more, both the developed and the developing countries."

Talks on a global climate deal hit a snag Monday when developing countries temporarily boycotted the negotiations, fearing industrial countries were backpedaling in their promises to cut greenhouse gases. The negotiations later resumed but deep divisions remain between rich and poor countries over emissions targets and financing for developing countries to deal with global warming.

Speaking to AP at a hotel in Copenhagen, Ban said if negotiators cannot resolve those problems before more than 110 world leaders arrive starting, "the outcome will be either a weak one, or there will be no agreement."

"This will be a serious mistake on the part of the negotiators and the leaders if they go back empty-handed," he said.

President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are among the leaders expected later this week in Copenhagen. The world leaders are aiming for a political agreement in Copenhagen rather than a legally binding treaty. Still, the goal is to nail down individual targets on emissions cuts and financing for developing countries in a deal that can be turned into a legally binding text next year.

The U.N. conference's working groups were finalizing two years of work Tuesday and drawing up their final recommendations on such issues as deforestation, technology transfers and the registration of plans by developing countries to control their emisisons.

On Tuesday, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore told the conference that new data suggests a 75% chance the Arctic Ocean's sea ice may almost completely disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now.

Scientists say global warming will create rising sea levels, increasing drought, more extreme weather and the extinction of some species.
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