Miliband: Copenhagen talks continue "I will if you will" standoff

Senior negotiators insisted yesterday that progress towards an international climate change deal had been made at the latest meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) in London, although they warned that the chances of a deal being finalised at the forthcoming UN summit in Copenhagen remained "in the balance".

Speaking at the close of the two-day meeting of the world's 17 largest polluters, British energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband said that an agreement was "more do-able today than yesterday". But he added that rich and poor nations are still locked in an "I will if you will situation", on the issue of emission targets and climate change funding, predicting that the chance of a deal being reached "remains in the balance in my view".

His comments were echoed by US envoy Todd Stern, who co-hosted the meeting, and revealed that the latest round of negotiations had seen "robust" views expressed.

Stern defended controversial US proposals for the over-arching international targets included in the original Kyoto Protocol to be scrapped in favour of national targets set by individual countries. The idea has been heavily criticised by developing nations who believe the US is trying to water down rich world commitments, but Stern said that national emission targets could prove more effective and far easier to enforce, noting that Canada for example had breached its Kyoto targets but faced few legal repercussions.

He also defended US proposals to cut emissions by 20 per cent on 2005 levels, insisting that despite criticism of the target as too modest, "those are strong numbers", and reiterated the US view that emerging economies such as China and India had to sign up to demanding targets of their own.

Miliband said that there was growing optimism that emerging economies were beginning to strike a more conciliatory tone at the talks, predicting that "the Chinese government will have more to say on [carbon targets] before Copenhagen" .

In addition, India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh said last week that the country's prime minister Manmohan Singh had instructed him to soften the country's stance in an attempt to finalise a deal, while Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday that the country was considering hosting a meeting of all the Amazon states to set out a common position ahead of the Copenhagen talks. The Brazilian government is also reported to be considering signing up to an aggressive target that would aim to cap its emissions at 2005 levels.

Meanwhile, British prime minister Gordon Brown continued his campaign to encourage world leaders to attend the Copenhagen summit in December, telling delegates at the MEF meeting that world leaders had to get involved in the negotiations.

"Leaders must engage directly to break the impasse," he said. "I have said I will go to Copenhagen, and I am encouraging them to make the same commitment."

Stern refused to be drawn on whether or not President Obama would attend the Copenhagen Summit, which runs December 7-18. However, he agreed with Miliband that there was no "Plan B" and the conference should not, as some commentators have suggested, be allowed to reconvene in 2010 as part of a last-ditch effort to finalise a deal.