UN climate change talks in Copenhagen remained bogged down early Thursday over procedural matters and a deep rift between host nation Denmark and key emitting states like China.
The talks stalled late Wednesday as delegates from nearly 200 nations failed to resolve their differences.
A Danish compromise text aimed at ending the deadlock was likely to be presented later on Thursday, local television reports said.
“It doesn’t look good. We are still on procedural matters,” a ranking member of the Swedish delegation told the German Press Agency dpa.
Sweden is current holder of the rotating presidency of the 27-nation European Union, one of the negotiating blocs at the conference scheduled to end on Friday.
The conference aims to slow global warming but the parties were at odds over the size of greenhouse gas emission cuts and transfer of money to poor nations impacted by climate change.
China’s chief negotiator has objected to host nation Denmark’s circulation of a new draft text before consulting other parties, Chinese state media said on Thursday.
“This is a multi-party-driven process,” the government’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Su Wei, China’s chief negotiator at the talks, as saying in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
“You can’t just put forward some text pulled from the sky,” Mr. Su said.
The circulation of the Danish draft text prior to consultation “would very much endanger the successful outcome in Copenhagen,” he said.
Mr. Su said China wanted a text with “extensive participation from all contracting parties”.
“We understand the Danish government’s eagerness for positive results out of the conference, and we are wracking our brains to push for an agreement,” he said.
With talks moving into the final phase, more heads of state and government were arriving in the Danish capital. In all 119 world leaders were due by Friday.
