Leaders reach 'limited' climate deal as deadlock forces talks into overtime

US President Barack Obama yesterday announced a climate deal with other major world leaders calling it "unprecedented" but still not enough to beat global warming.

More than four hours after the scheduled close of the summit and an exhaustive round of diplomacy between the world's most powerful leaders, Mr Obama said an agreement had been reached but acknowledged it was limited and would not be legally binding.

The pact includes an agreement to put off until next month a decision on targets for reducing carbon emissions by 2020, a European diplomat said.

And unlike earlier drafts, the new accord did not specify any year for emissions to peak.

A US source said the agreement had a commitment from wealthy and key developing nations to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.

The United States will contribute $3.6 billion (€2.51 billion) in climate funds for poorer nations in the 2010-2012 period, according to a draft text seen by AFP.

Japan would contribute $11 billion (€7.67 billion) over the three-year period and the European Union $10.6 billion (€7.42 billion), it said.

The deal was hammered out in talks between Mr Obama and the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa as well as key European countries, diplomats said.

A binding deal will be "very hard" and will take time, Mr Obama told reporters, adding that progress in Copenhagen climate summit was "not enough".

French President Nicolas Sarkozy had earlier said the talks were making progress after he met Mr Obama with EU leaders including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The draft text said countries would provide "national communications" on how they were tackling global warming, through "international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines."

China had bristled at anything called "verification" of its plan to cut the intensity of its carbon emissions, seeing it as an infringement of sovereignty and saying that rich nations bore primary responsibility for global warming.

Disagreements between the United States and China had been at the core of the divisions holding up a deal.

But even if Washington and Beijing have now come to an understanding, the deal will still have to get the approval of the 194 UN members in attendance in Copenhagen.

There was no immediate word on Russia's stance. President Dmitry Medevedev was one of the first to leave Copenhagen, having voiced frustration at the negotiation process overseen by the Danish government.

The emergence of a deal came at the end of a day in which several drafts agreements were knocked back, with leaders themselves taking over the task of redrafting the exact wording of three pages of text.

Different versions of the document showed the leaders particularly split over whether to fix a firm date for finalising a legally binding treaty in 2010, and a commitment to slashing global carbon emissions in half by 2050.

Scientists say failure to curb the rise in Earth's temperature will lead to worsening drought, floods, storms and rising sea levels.

Mr Obama, whose presence was intended to provide the momentum to propel the deal over the finishing line, had earlier pleaded for unity while acknowledging any agreement would be less than perfect. The haggling capped two years of deadlock over crafting a new UN treaty from 2013 that would reduce global warming from mortal threat to manageable peril.

The commitment to limit the rise in Earth's temperature to no more than 2.0 degrees Celsius falls way short of the demands of threatened island nations who, with their very existence threatened by rising seas, have called for a cap of 1.5 C.

"Whatever the outcome, it looks bad for us," said a member of the Maldives delegation, an archipelago which fears being swallowed up by the Indian Ocean in a matter of decades.

Reactions

The following are some reactions.

Steve Sawyer, Secretary-General of the Global Wind Energy Council
"On the basis of drafts I've seen so far... standing on its own a political declaration like that doesn't do much other than paper over the fact that that governments have failed to keep the promises they made to each other (in Bali, Indonesia two years ago at the launch of the two-year climate talks meant ot agree a climate pact)."

John Lanchbery, BirdLife International
"It sounds very vague. There's no next step, nothing to link through to how to get a final deal done."

John Ashe, chair of Kyoto Protocol talks under UN
"Given where we started and the expectations for this conference, anything less than a legally binding and agreed outcome falls far short of the mark.

"On the the other hand though I'm a bit of a realist so I do realise that perhaps the bar was set too high and the fact that there's now a deal - I haven't seen the details I saw earlier versions I haven't seen the latest one - the fact that there's now a deal perhaps gives us something to hang our hat on.

"I hope it sets the stage for serious work in 2010 so that we can conclude what we originally set out to do here in Copenhagen we can conclude that perhaps as soon as June, failing that by December 2010."

Yvo De Boer, Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat
"The mountain goes on and on, it seems. I do think we need to see how this text is received by the broader group of countries. It's great that small group of leaders gets together and tries to advance the process. But ultimately the way things work here it has to be acceptable to every country.

"If this makes it through the meeting in a couple of hours' time then I see it as a modest success. We could have achieved more."

European Commission spokesman
"A deal is better than no deal. What could be agreed today, falls far below our expectations. But It keeps our goals and ambitions alive. It addresses the needs of developing countries. It was the only deal available in Copenhagen."

Brazil's Climate Change Ambassador Sergio Serra
"It's very disappointing I would say but it is not a failure...if we agree to meet again and deal with the issues that are still pending.

"We have a big job ahead to avoid climate change through effective emissions reduction targets and this was not done here."

Head of China's Climate delegation, Xie Zhenhua
"The meeting has had a positive result, everyone should be happy. After negotiations both sides have managed to preserve their bottom line. For the Chinese this was our sovereignty and our national interest."(Source of reactions: Reuters)