Copenhagen, Dec 17: China has told participants in the U.N. climate change talks that it sees no possibility of reaching an operational accord this week, an official involved in the Copenhagen talks told on Thursday.
The official, who asked not to be identified by name, said the Chinese had suggested instead issuing “a short political declaration of some sort.” It was not clear what that would say.
The official said negotiations were continuing to try to achieve a breakthrough that would still allow an operational agreement to be signed.
The development came as dozens of heads of state were descending on Copenhagen hoping to sign a new pact on Friday to tackle global warming.
Denmark said it was trying to simplify several complex draft negotiating texts to help about 120 leaders attending a summit on Thursday and Friday to agree on a deal.
The official said the sticking point for China appeared to be a process issue.
China told conference chairman Denmark on Wednesday night it was siding with developing nations, which rejected Denmark’s efforts to select small negotiating groups to go through the assorted draft texts, saying the process had to be inclusive.
The official involved in the talks said China, one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters, had taken issue with this, arguing that Denmark was not empowered to do that.
–Agencies