EU head doubts Copenhagen climate treaty
(WASHINGTON) - European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso voiced alarm Tuesday about the pace of climate negotiations and said that next month's Copenhagen summit would not reach a full-fledged new treaty.
On a visit to Washington, Barroso said he was "worried" by the lack of progress in the run-up to the high-profile talks in the Danish capital.
"Of course we are not going to have a full-fledged binding treaty, Kyoto-type, by Copenhagen," Barroso told reporters. "This is obvious. There is no time for that."
Barroso said he was hopeful for a framework agreement at Copenhagen, but warned against a protracted process of negotiations akin to the stalled Doha round of global trade liberalization talks.
The December 7-18 meeting had originally been set to seal a treaty to succeed the landmark Kyoto Protocol, whose obligations to cut carbon emissions expire in 2012.
But even the UN climate chief, Yvo de Boer, has said it will be impossible to reach a comprehensive treaty in Copenhagen.
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