AP: Negotiators scale back UN climate pact ambitions

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9u9GMQj8IuTIkIKDmsiGSXq4KuAD9BPHETO0

Negotiators scale back UN climate pact ambitions

By KATY DAIGLE and ARTHUR MAX (AP)

BARCELONA, Spain — Negotiators and diplomats were working Thursday on a scaled-back version of a global climate change treaty that could be agreed by next month's deadline.

The idea of forging a political agreement, instead of a legally binding treaty, was becoming a more accepted possibility as negotiators acknowledged some nations, including the United States, would not be ready in time for the December U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"People are more and more talking about a framework, a framework that you clarify further in the following months," said Artur Runge-Metzger, chief delegate from the EU Commission.

European officials said they envisioned a political accord emerging from Copenhagen enshrining plans by developed countries to cut carbon emissions and by emerging economies to trim back the growth of their emissions. It also would include specific numbers on how much money wealthy countries would channel to the poor to combat the effects of climate change.

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