Bleak outlook in Bonn as row brews over autumn talks

The second week of the latest round of UN climate talks today got underway in Bonn, amidst growing fears that the long-running negotiations have stalled.

Various reports confirmed that the first week of talks had made minimal progress as negotiators clashed over the agenda and deadlocked issues of emissions targets and the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

Efforts to move forwards on aspects of the Cancun Accords, such as the agreement to develop climate aid mechanisms and a regime for measuring and reporting emission reductions, were overshadowed by the standoff between rich and poor nations, prompting commentators to bemoan the tense atmosphere amongst diplomats.

There were also indications of a brewing row over whether to host further talks in the autumn ahead of the main UN summit in Durban in November and December.

The South African government said it had received calls for it to host one or two meetings in September and October, in an attempt to ensure a workable negotiating text is prepared ahead of the ministerial summit in Durban. Such preliminary summits have been a feature of the long-running negotiations in recent years, and those calling for further meetings insist they are necessary if the summit is to deliver meaningful progress.

However, news agency Reuters reported that developed countries are yet to decide whether they will provide the funding necessary to host any further meetings.

"This will depend, among other things, on the extent of progress made here in Bonn, and whether the political will among parties exists for a further session," the head of the EU delegation, Artur Runge-Metzger, told the news agency.

The Colombian delegation offered a more blunt assessment of the likelihood of additional meetings in the autumn, telling the Bonn summit that "without progress in these two weeks, there's no point having another session in the fall".

But few commentators are pinning their hopes on a breakthrough this week after several days of clashes between industrialised and developing nations.

Jorge Arguello of Argentina, chair of the G77 and China group of developing nations, responded angrily to suggestions that negotiators had wasted time arguing over the agenda for the Bonn talks, insisting these procedural issues were critical to the success of the talks.

In a statement released following a meeting on Wednesday, Arguello said: "Some say that we are discussing the agenda and getting bogged down with procedural matter. Make no mistake: this is not a procedural negotiation. The negotiations are highly political – what is at stake here is whether or not we are going to work on the issues that need to be addressed so we can have an agreement in Durban."

He also reiterated that the G77 and China still wish to deliver a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol, despite statements from Japan, Russia and the US suggesting they would not sign up to an extension of the controversial treaty.

"We must stop making excuses and sit down at the negotiation table to decide strong terms for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Arguello. "Some countries are hiding behind fragmented information and cherry-picking numbers to claim that a second commitment period is not possible and blame developing countries. That simply is not true."

However, his comments came on the same day as the Canadian negotiating team confirmed that, following the election of its new government, it could now confirm that it will join Japan and Russia in unequivocally refusing to sign up to a second commitment period of Kyoto after 2012.