Hopes for an agreement being reached at a United Nations summit in December "hang in the balance," undermined by a climate of suspicion between rich and poor countries, said Foreign Secretary David Miliband, speaking at a press conference with his brother, Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband.
Nations will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to attempt to strike a pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which bound 37 industrial countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent of 1990 levels by 2012.
But David Miliband told reporters in London that the complexity of negotiations and disputes between industrialized and developing nations over cuts to emissions threaten to scupper a deal.
"The deal the world needs in Copenhagen is now in the balance," he said. "There's a real danger the talks scheduled for December will not reach a positive outcome, and an equal danger in the run-up to Copenhagen that people don't wake up to the danger of failure until it's too late."
The Kyoto accord placed no obligations on developing countries, but now industrialized nations want countries including India and China — seen by many as the world's largest polluter — to agree to stall, and eventually cut, their emissions.
David Miliband is due to travel this week to France, the Netherlands, Poland and Denmark to meet fellow foreign ministers and discuss how European nations can try to influence reluctant nations.
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