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After two weeks of often-bitter wrangling, Bali conference delegates were on the verge of an agreement Friday on the parameters for tougher action on global warming.
The delegates from 190 countries were expected to ratify a compromise agreement this morning, setting the stage for two years of intense negotiations to settle the details on drastic reductions in the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite the compromise between Europe and the United States, some aspects of the agreement were not yet finalized last night, and environmentalists warned that the situation was still volatile. They cautioned that the agreement could still fall apart when it is reviewed by all countries today.
The compromise was reached in the final hours of talks, when the European Union agreed to drop its insistence on an explicit reference to a target of cutting emissions by 25 to 40 per cent in the world's wealthiest nations by 2020.
Environmental activists dressed as polar bears demonstrate in front the of the conference center where the negotiation of a post Kyoto protocol is taking place during the UN Climate Conference in Bali. (AP)
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The inclusion of a specific target for 2020 had been resisted strongly by the United States, Canada and Japan.
Instead of a numerical target, Europe agreed to settle for a sentence referring to a major report by a United Nations panel of scientists, who warned that deep cuts in emissions are needed to prevent a dangerous overheating of the planet.
The final agreement is also expected to refer to a long-term goal of cutting worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 per cent by the middle of the century. It would also suggest that global emissions should peak within the next 10 or 15 years and then begin to decline.
Yvo de Boer, chief of the UN's climate agency, told reporters last night that the conference was "on the brink of agreement", even though the negotiations were going slower than expected.
The Bali conference was scheduled to finish its work yesterday, but -- as widely expected -- it failed to reach an agreement on time. Instead it scheduled a final session this morning, where the agreement is likely to be fine-tuned and ratified. Small groups of negotiators were meeting into the pre-dawn hours to try to finalize the agreement.
One senior Canadian source said the European Union was "very constructive" in the negotiations yesterday, despite an earlier threat to boycott a parallel U.S.-led climate negotiation process if the United States blocked agreement at Bali. "They seem to be backing away from being tough guys," the Canadian source said. "I think we're in a good zone now."
He argued that the long-term target for 2050 would make it unnecessary to have a specific target for 2020, since the short-term target was implicit in the long-term goal.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is making an unscheduled return to Bali today to try to shepherd the final stages of the deal. Last night it was announced that he will address the conference this morning.
While the compromise agreement seemed to settle the differences between Europe and the United States, developing countries were continuing to question some aspects of the deal. They said they would keep resisting any pressure to limit their greenhouse-gas emissions.
"We need to grow, and we need to grow rapidly," said Munir Akram, a Pakistani diplomat who heads the G77 and China, the major bloc of developing countries at the Bali conference.
"It's a question of justice and humanity," he said. "We cannot afford to allow our development to be stalled or reversed."
