Gloomy outlook for Durban climate talks

South Africa: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that the countries meeting in Durban will probably not be able to reach an agreement on a new global deal on climate change.

“It may be true, as many say: the ultimate goal of a comprehensive and binding climate change agreement may be beyond our reach -- for now,” Ban said in Durban, South Africa on Tuesday after assessing the nine days of preliminary negotiations at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol.

The COP17/CMP7 conference opened on November 28 and runs until December 9.

Ban added that the “grave economic troubles in many countries” have unfortunately pushed the climate issue to the back burners.

Twelve heads of state and about 130 ministers are attending the conference on climate change, which will determine the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, which was the first international treaty that mandated cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Press TV