The Maltese man who wrote the “basis” of the Copenhagen climate change draft document currently under discussion, believes an agreement will be reached, but is not confident that it will be an ambitious one.

Michael Zammit Cutajar, who is also Malta’s climate change ambassador, said the fact that different blocs had opposing visions from the start was a fundamental problem that was difficult to solve.

Speaking in Copenhagen to the local press he said the summit will likely emerge with two decisions, one under the Kyoto Protocol and another under the UN Convention.

While the Kyoto protocol legally binds certain countries from reducing emissions, the UN climate change convention only encourages them to do so.

“Initially I had asked: what document do you want me to prepare? A treaty, a declaration, a decision? But there wasn’t the same vision – the EU had one vision, the Americans and the G77 had others,” Mr Zammit Cutajar said.

He added that one possibility was that the two documents could point in the same direction: a mandate for work to continue for until next year's conference in Mexico.

Mr Zammit Cutajar said there was a void in the discussions stemming from the fact that a document leaked to the Guardian had created tension because it was leaning towards developed countries.

He had therefore chosen to present a new document himself that aimed to balance things out and this is the document being amended in the hope of reaching a final agreement.