By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Ed Miliband says there is no "Plan B" on reaching agreement Agreeing a new global climate treaty looks more "do-able" after London talks between the big-emitting nations, UK Climate Secretary Ed Miliband has said. Talks between 17 countries producing about 80% of global emissions ended with a call for more funds to help poor nations adapt to climate change. The US president may attend December's UN summit if enough progress has been made by then, said US envoy Todd Stern. Mr Miliband said he would be going "all out" for an agreement in Copenhagen. Earlier in the day, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that "catastrophe" lay ahead if climate change were not tackled. The two days of talks under the auspices of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) were not designed to bring new pledges, but to facilitate dialogue in a less pressured environment than the formal UN negotiations. Leadership question "It's an uphill battle, but I just feel today it's more do-able than (I did) yesterday," Mr Miliband told journalists in a briefing directly after the MEF meeting closed on Monday evening in London. President Obama and other world leaders need to go to Copenhagen and take personal responsibility for its success
Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace "There was a universal view that we need to get an agreement in Copenhagen - not an agreement at any price, but that we've come a long way and we intend to translate that into an agreement by the end of the year." In recent weeks, there have signs that a deal might be impossible to secure in December, with important details potentially being left for discussion next year. But Mr Miliband said he was "going all out" for agreement at Copenhagen, and there was no "Plan B". He also declared that "leaders need to be involved". Ministers and negotiators cannot do the job alone, he said. Many observers believe that Barack Obama is the leader whose presence would do most to hasten a deal, but Mr Stern, the US administration's chief negotiator, said the president's attendance was not decided. "We are not writing anything off or foreclosing possibilities," Mr Stern said. "If the kind of progress is made that would warrant the attendance of leaders, we'll certainly look at that." Environment groups urged leaders including Mr Obama to step up their level of personal commitment. Todd Stern described Gordon Brown as "inspirational" on climate "The planet cannot afford the US administration downplaying the significance of the Copenhagen climate summit," said Martin Kaiser, climate policy adviser with Greenpeace International. "President Obama and other world leaders need to go to Copenhagen and take personal responsibility for its success, in order to achieve an agreement to avert catastrophic climate change." Mr Stern also told reporters that a new treaty could not be an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, as many developing countries are demanding, if the US is to join up. "We're not a party to the Kyoto Protocol and we're not going to be a party," he said. Funding issue The two days of talks at London's Lancaster House focused on providing finance to assist developing countries prepare for and adapt to impacts of climate change, and to protect forests. Six developing countries, including some considered to be in particular need of financial assistance in adapting to climate impacts, such as Ethiopia and The Maldives, were invited to an MEF meeting for the first time. The final communique makes it clear that discussions focused on mechanisms for raising, governing and disbursing funds. But there was also a clear commitment that richer countries would have to provide some money from the public purse, and that the scale of the funds on offer would need to be "scaled up". The EU is due to finalise its proposals on financing adaptation shortly. The MEF communique also asks the forthcoming G20 finance ministers' meeting in St Andrews, Scotland, to "advance these discussions". The final week of formal preparatory negotiations within the UN process leading up to the Copenhagen summit begins in Barcelona in just under a fortnight. Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
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International climate negotiations for a global climate treaty are not producing the required results in the given amount of time left before the Copenhagen conference in December, diminishing the hopes for a resolution at this conference.

Global mean surface temperature difference from the average for 1961–1990 
Major polluters have already decided that the only way for a plan of this scale to take effect is to have steps towards the reduction of greenhouse gases instead of creating a plan which takes immediate effect and shuts down production facilities.  Countries are likely to propose steps at the Copenhagen Meeting.

Yvo De Boer, a Dutch Diplomat, has been overseeing the proceedings so far. "There isn't sufficient time to get the whole thing done. But I hope it will go well beyond simply a declaration of principles. The form I would like it to take is the groundwork for a ratifiable agreement next year," commented Boer.

The 192 countries which make up the United Nations show the gaps in-between their ideas. Wealthier nations are planning to help poorer countries with enforcing climate laws and investing in newer technology. 16 of the largest polluters have already begun planning on aiding poorer countries.

Officials are attempting to narrow down issues which countries agree on, such as certain steps and the common goal to limit emissions. Negotiators plan to discuss how the treaty will be upheld at Copenhagen. Diplomats have raised the question of reliability, since most of the supporting countries have not enforced any binding climate legislation within their own countries. Until it is shown that all countries participating will uphold the treaty, nations are unwilling to enforce a treaty within their own country.

Although there are hopes of progress in Copenhagen, observes note that radical change is unlikely. "The most likely form any agreement will take will be a political declaration," said Nigel Purvis, State Department climate negotiator during the Clinton Administration and Bush administration.