Canada and Japan accused of blocking Copenhagen progress

Sir David King, the UK's former chief scientific adviser, yesterday accused Canada and Japan of blocking progress towards a meaningful international deal to tackle climate change.

Speaking at the World Conference of Science Journalists, King said that while much of the attention in recent months had focused on the Obama administration's engagement with the so-called Copenhagen negotiations to agree a successor to the Kyoto Treaty, Canada and Japan were quietly undermining the talks.

"Copenhagen is faltering at the moment," he said. "The Americans are now fully engaged. But several countries are blocking the process."

Both countries are believed to oppose demands for stringent emission reduction targets at the behest of powerful business lobby groups, such as the energy company's push to exploit Canada's oil sands.

"These people are very outspoken, aggressive lobbyists," Dr Robert Falkner at the London School of Economics told The Times. "They are gung-ho about rising oil prices and want to exploit that."

King advised that other countries should stand up to Japan and Canada, and hinted that they should be willing to exclude them from any deal rather than allow them to water it down. He argued that an ambitious deal between China, the US and the EU would prove more effective at cutting emissions than a multilateral global deal hamstrung by weak targets.

"If you had the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and Obama on the same stage, together with the EU’s position, this would be a strong move in the right direction," he said.

His comments came as UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon told a gathering of Japanese business leaders that he was relying on them to support efforts to reach an agreement in Copenhagen.

"It will be a moment of truth in Copenhagen whether we will set ourselves on course for disaster by taking a business-as-usual attitude, or we will find the path of sustainable green growth," he said. "Your role is extremely, crucially, important. I count on your leadership."

Meanwhile, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said that work to agree a deal at Copenhagen would dominate Sweden's six-month stint as EU president.

Speaking in an interview with Swedish Radio, he also reiterated the EU's commitment to support any deal. "The problem is not the European Union — the problem is getting others on board," he said.