Mexican Foreign Minister - Don't Measure Success Of Cancun Climate Talks By Creation Of Agreement

[hatrack]

OK then . . . shall we measure the talks' success by the tasty catering, or the exquisite ocean views?

Mexico's foreign minister today dampened hopes of a breakthrough deal at the Cancun climate change talks in November, saying negotiators are focusing on making progress on smaller issues before perhaps seeking a comprehensive agreement in 2011 or later.

Speaking after a two-day meeting in Geneva that dealt with how to pay for carbon-cutting projects in developing countries, Patricia Espinosa said the public should not measure the success of the Cancun talks by whether countries agree on a new legally binding text to combat global warming. "I don't think this is the right approach under the current circumstances," she told reporters. "Throughout the world there are really very different needs and interests."

Organisers of the Cancun meeting, including the United Nations and the Mexican government, are trying to inject a sense of optimism and trust among negotiators after the last major round of talks in Copenhagen ended in failure last year.

Swiss environment minister Moritz Leuenberger, who hosted the closed-door talks in Geneva, insisted countries are "no longer fixated" on agreeing on a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, which scientists say does not go far enough in requiring countries to reduce their carbon emissions.

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/03/mexico-foreign-minister-cancun-talks