No global climate change treaty likely for up to a year, negotiators admit

[clear eye]

Source: The Guardian

World's key industrialised nations say they have abandoned hope of legally binding deal at Copenhagen summit

John Vidal in Barcelona, Allegra Stratton in London and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 November 2009 20.52 GMT

A global treaty to fight climate change will be postponed by at least six months and possibly a year or more, senior negotiators and politicians conceded today.

In a day of gloomy statements, the world's key industrialised nations said they had abandoned hope of a legally binding treaty at the Copenhagen summit next month and had begun to plan only for a meeting of world leaders.

The stark statements follow weeks of pessimism and represent a significant downgrading of the summit's goal.

...In Barcelona, where last-ditch negotiations are taking place, it became clear today the best hope for Copenhagen is a "politically binding" agreement, which rich countries hope will have all the key elements of the final deal, including specific targets and timetables for greenhouse gas emissions cuts and money for poor countries to cope with climate change.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/05/copenhagen-climate-change-treaty-delay

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Not sure how an agreement is "politically binding" w/o being a treaty.

[Delphinus]

1. That's right ...

keep on waiting ... let's not do anything to try and mitigate global climate change ... let's just fiddle while Rome burns.