FACTBOX-What is holding up progress in climate talks?

Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:34am EDT

Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.N. climate talks on expanding the fight against global warming have largely stalled, making the outcome of a major climate summit in Copenhagen in December uncertain.

With less than 60 days to the Copenhagen meeting, negotiators face serious differences in finding a way to get the United States and large developing nations to sign up to a deal that leads to big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Following are efforts to expand or replace the Kyoto Protocol climate pact.

MONEY

No money, no deal. Developing nations, who say wealthy countries are largely to blame for climate change to date, want cash to help them green their economies. Money to adapt to rising seas and greater extremes of weather is also essential, they say.

Without cash and clean-energy technology, they see no point in taking anything more than voluntary steps to curb the growth of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Rich nations have so far failed to put significant sums on the table and instead talk of "fast-start" cash in Copenhagen for initial adaptation and technology transfer programmes.

Details on larger and longer-term funding would come later but there remains disagreement on whether this should be mostly public money or raised through carbon markets and levies on shipping and aviation fuels.

The United States says its hands are tied until the Senate passes a climate bill. The European Union will likely have clarity on funding after a leaders' meeting in a few weeks.

TARGETS

Rich nations have also failed to put final emissions reduction targets for 2020 on the table. Collectively, the figures offered are far below the 25-40 percent cut from 1990 levels by 2020 the U.N. climate panel says is needed to help limit the growth of carbon pollution in the atmosphere.

Many rich nation's targets are also conditional on the outcome of Copenhagen or the actions of big developing nations, such as top greenhouse gas polluter China.

Developing nations want rich countries to adopt tougher targets to show they are serious in fighting climate change.

KILL KYOTO?

Just as contentious is the legal framework of a broader climate pact to succeed Kyoto from 2013. The European Union says Kyoto hasn't worked and that most rich nations will fail to meet their 2008-12 emission targets. The U.S. wants a new agreement that focuses on binding domestic action and wants all nations to put their emissions reduction steps into a registry.

Developing nations want Kyoto to remain since there's nothing better to replace it. They fear wealthy states are trying to dodge tough emissions cuts by 2020 and point to a history of broken promises on financing and failure to meet past emissions cuts.

MEASUREMENT

Rich nations want all countries to provide regular and detailed reports on their efforts to cut emissions and to agree on ways to check, or verify, these steps really lead to greenhouse gas reductions.

But the G77 bloc of developing countries say they should not be part of a universal measurement, reporting and verification system, saying richer nations should be held to a tougher standard. More broadly, developing nations say they shouldn't be treated the same way as rich countries in terms of how their efforts to fight climate change are treated in a new pact.

Analysts say the rigid split in actions by rich and poor nations under U.N. climate treaties is no longer valid, pointing to China, India, Indonesia and Brazil being among the top greenhouse gas emitters. Getting them to agree to binding steps to cut emissions is crucial.

(Reporting by David Fogarty; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)