LONDON, (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday urged world leaders to intervene personally to break deadlocked talks to agree a global climate change deal in December.
Brown is one of the few major economy leaders who has announced plans to attend the U.N.-led Dec 7-18 conference in Copenhagen.
The meeting is intended for environment ministers, and meant to sign a new deal to extend or replace the existing Kyoto Protocol after 2012.
“I believe that leaders must engage directly to break the impasse,” Brown told energy and environment ministers and representatives of 17 of the world’s main polluting nations, gathered in London.
“I urge my fellow leaders to work together to reach agreement amongst us.”
Many analysts and lawmakers doubt the world can agree a deal in December, arguing the deadline is too tight given a lack of progress on issues including emissions reduction targets.
“I believe agreement at Copenhagen is possible,” Brown said. “But we must frankly face the plain fact that our negotiators are not getting to agreement quickly enough.”
The two-year U.N. talks launched in Bali, Indonesia in 2007 are split on how big carbon cuts rich nations should make by 2020, and how much they should pay developing countries to prepare for and slow global warming.
