UN Climate Talks Focus On How To Cut Emissions

ARTHUR MAX

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Negotiators at a U.N. climate conference in Spain further defined plans for reducing greenhouse emissions and continued work on a draft climate change treaty, with next month's deadline for a legal document increasingly in doubt.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the European Union presidency, said the holdup in the U.S. Senate of a climate bill made it impossible to meet a deadline next month for adopting a binding agreement regulating the world's emissions of gases that cause global warming.

A flurry of diplomatic activity reflected high tensions worldwide as two years of negotiations approach a climax at a major climate conference opening Dec. 7 in Copenhagen.

But expectations of a deal have been eroding for months as the ongoing negotiations have bogged down in the minutia of a vastly complex agreement that would alter economies around the globe.

Though a full treaty appeared out of reach, U.N. and European leaders have said it was critical to sign on to an agreement containing the essential elements, with the details to be filled in later. But Reinfeldt indicated even that might not be attainable.