news20091115gdn

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[Environment > Nuclear waste]
Nuclear disposal put in doubt by recovered Swedish galleon
The plan to use copper for sealing nuclear waste underground has being thrown into disarray by corrosion in artefacts from the Vasa
Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 14 November 2009 23.33 GMT Article history

Plans for nuclear waste disposal could be thrown into confusion tomorrow at a summit because of new evidence of corrosion in materials traditionally used for burial procedures.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) says it will keep careful watch on a meeting organised by the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste, which will look at potential problems with copper, designated for an important role in sealing radioactive waste underground.

Concerns have risen from a most unexpected quarter. Examination of copper artefacts from the Vasa, a fifteenth-century galleon raised from Stockholm harbour, has shown a level of decay that challenges the scientific wisdom that copper corrodes only when exposed to oxygen.

David Lowry, a consultant on the nuclear industry, said the latest evidence had profound implications. "As the British nuclear industry gears up to build a new generation of nuclear reactors, so the pressure builds to demonstrate there is a solution to the long-term management of nuclear waste. But plans to adopt the Swedish system of nuclear waste disposal look as if they might have hit the rocks."

The NDA said that no decision had been taken on what materials would be used for containment. "It's not a showstopper. There are other options," a spokesman said.Researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have prepared a report for tomorrow's meeting which says its findings "cast additional doubt on copper for nuclear waste containment and other important applications."


[News > World news > Antarctica]
Antarctica: Penguin cruise tourists trapped in sea ice
Sam Rogers
The Observer, Sunday 15 November 2009 Article history

Eighty British tourists on a journey to watch emperor penguins in the Antarctic have been stranded for a week after their cruise ship got stuck in the ice. The Kapitan Khlebnikov, a Russian icebreaker that takes people through the icebergs of the Weddell Sea and to Snow Hill Island rookery, set out on 3 November and was due to return tomorrow.

But bad weather caused the sea-ice to compact, making it impossible for the ship, with its 105 passengers, including the 80 Britons, to break through. Among those on board are a BBC crew filming The Frozen Planet, a nature documentary series produced by Alastair Fothergill, who also made Blue Planet. A BBC spokeswoman said the team, who were supposed to take helicopter rides from the ship to film the penguins from above, were frustrated but in no danger.

There are also biologists and geologists on the ship, who are said to be giving daily conferences to keep passengers entertained.

Passing the message on through a satellite phone, a passenger, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: "The first three days went according to plan, but then the weather started changing. Now we have to wait for winds to change."

The passengers and crew are in no danger and it is expected that the ice will decompress enough over the weekend for the ship to navigate its way out and return to Ushuaia, Argentina.


[Environment > Coal]
Scientists hope to turn coal into clean energy
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 November 2009 00.06 GMT Article history

Millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide could be prevented from entering the atmosphere following the discovery of a way to turn coal, grass or municipal waste more efficiently into clean fuels.

Scientists have adapted a process called "gasification" which is already used to clean up dirty materials before they are used to generate electricity or to make renewable fuels. The technique involves heating organic matter to produce a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, called syngas.

However gasification is very energy-intensive, requiring high-temperature air, steam or oxygen to react with the organic material. Heating this up leads to the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide. In addition, gasification is often inefficient, leaving behind significant amounts of solid waste.

To find out how to make the process more efficient, researchers led by Marco Castaldi, at Columbia University, tried varying the atmosphere in the gasifier. They found that, by adding CO2 to the steam atmosphere of a gasifier, significantly more of the biomass or coal was turned into useful syngas.

The technique has a double benefit for the environment: it provides a use for CO2 that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere and, after the hydrogen is siphoned off from the syngas, the remaining carbon monoxide can be buried safely underground.

Castaldi's results will be published this week in the Journal of Environmental Science & Technology. His team calculated that using CO2 during gasification of a biomass fuel such as beechgrass, in order to make enough biofuel for a fifth of the world's transport demands, would use 437m tonnes of the greenhouse gas. Preventing that entering the atmosphere would equate to taking 308m vehicles off the road.

Replacing 30% of the steam atmosphere of a gasifier with CO2 ensured that all the solid fuel was turned into syngas. Castaldi's process reduces the amount of water that needs to be heated, thereby saving energy, and is 10 to 30% more efficient than standard gasification.

"If I operate at 1,000C and don't use CO2 I'll have some residual carbon left over, which could be a fuel – that's an efficiency penalty," said Castaldi. "Using about 30% CO2, for that same 1,000C you get the complete gasification of the carbon into the syngas."

Applied to a modern IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) power station, which gasifies coal, this can lead to an efficiency gain of up to 4%. "While that may not sound like much, for a power plant producing 500 megawatts of energy, it is significant," said Castaldi.

news20091115reut1

[Top News] from [REUTERS]

[Green Business]
"Kyoto principles" crucial in climate talks: China
Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:53am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will insist the main principles of the Kyoto Protocol are retained in any new global climate change pact, even though others are seeking to abandon them, a high-ranking climate official on Saturday.

"China will carry out our negotiations on the basis of the Kyoto Protocol which we have adhered to all along," said Gao Guangsheng, director general at the department of climate change at the National Development and Reform Commission.

He told a conference that some countries were seeking to tear up the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" on which the Kyoto Protocol was founded.

According to the Kyoto principle, rich "Annex I" countries should take the initiative when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions, while poorer nations such as China and India would not be obliged to set their own mandatory targets until 2020.

Much of the legal infrastructure of the protocol is based on the principle, including the clean development mechanism, which allows developed countries to meet their CO2 targets by investing in clean projects in the developing world.

"But now there are some signatories... trying to abandon the Kyoto Protocol, with some wanting to devise new laws," Gao said.

Gao did not name the United States, but the country's legislators are currently deliberating on a climate bill that would commit U.S. industries to costly CO2 cuts, and many have expressed concern that if China doesn't follow suit, it will gain a competitive advantage in world trade.

With the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol set to expire in 2012, leaders will gather in the Danish capital of Copenhagen next month to thrash out the details of a new deal, but few expect anything binding to emerge.

Gao said China remained optimistic.

"Looking now at the progress of negotiations, you can say China is still full of hope about the meeting in Copenhagen," he said. "We are now putting our utmost effort into the success of the Copenhagen meeting."

(Reporting by Wang Lan and David Stanway, Editing by Alex Richardson)


[Green Business]
APEC retreats from C02 target, Brazil pledges cut
Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:18am EST
By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia Pacific leaders backed away on Saturday from supporting a global halving of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, even as Brazil pledged deep cuts of its own over the next decade.

An initial draft leaders' statement from an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore had said that "global emissions will need to ... be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050."

But a later, watered-down version stated: "We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be substantially reduced by 2050, recognizing that the timeframe for peaking will be longer in developing economies."

APEC includes the top two greenhouse gas emitters -- China and the United States -- and its meeting is the last major gathering of global decision-makers before a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in three weeks, meant to ramp up efforts to fight climate change.

Its retreat may further dampen hopes that the Copenhagen meeting can yield a legally binding framework to stave off dangerous levels of global warming that scientists say threaten to bring rising seas and more droughts, heatwaves and floods.

Arguments over targets have been a key stumbling block in U.N. negotiations and at other forums, such as the G8.

BLAME GAME

Developing countries blame wealthy nations for most of mankind's greenhouse gas pollution to date and say the onus should be on them to make major reductions first. Some fear that committing to ambitious targets would choke their economic growth and prevent them catching up with richer states.

The European Union praised Brazil for its pledge on Friday to take its emissions back to 1990s levels by 2020 -- potentially a cut of some 20 percent from the 2.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases it produced in 2005.

The commitment by Latin America's biggest economy could put pressure on other nations to adopt more aggressive targets.

"This is a potentially decisive step to achieve a global deal in Copenhagen in December and to succeed in the fight against climate change," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Union's executive arm, the European Commission.

The cuts, which assume annual economic growth of between 4 and 6 percent, would not hamper Brazil's economy, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said.

"Brazil will grow and develop. We will create more green jobs, more efficient jobs, a cleaner energy matrix, more efficient agriculture," he said.

Brazil, among the world's biggest carbon polluters mostly due to deforestation, has become a major player in climate negotiations after years of rejecting such talks and saying the onus was entirely on rich countries to cut emissions.

But APEC's stance is more significant because its 21 members account for some 60 percent of mankind's greenhouse gas pollution.

Yi Xianliang, counsellor at the department of treaty and law at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is negotiating in the climate talks, said the target of a 50 percent global cut in the original draft APEC statement was "very controversial."

This "might have disrupted negotiations," Yi told a news conference, adding the decision to remove the target was a collective decision.

APEC member South Korea gave the U.N. climate talks a small boost by opting for the toughest of three voluntary emission targets, choosing minus four percent from 2005 levels by 2020, a government source told Reuters in Singapore.

The United States and Japan agreed on Friday they would aim to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and back a global goal to halve emissions by mid-century.


[Green Business]
Obama backs two-step plan to reach climate deal
Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:48pm EST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has backed a plan by the host of next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen to seek a political deal and leave legally binding decisions for later, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days," a top U.S. negotiator, Michael Froman, told reporters.

With Kyoto's first phase set to run out in 2012, the December 7-18 Copenhagen talks are seen as the last chance for all countries to agree on painful measures needed to ease the pace of climate change.

The aim of the U.N. meeting is to set ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases, but also to raise funds to help poor countries tackle global warming.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, host of the Copenhagen talks, told Reuters earlier this month he was hoping for a political deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol and had invited top world leaders to the meeting to agree it.

However, he said final, legally binding decisions would have to be taken later.

Froman was speaking after a breakfast meeting of leaders at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore, the last major gathering of global decision-makers before Copenhagen.

"There was widespread support among the leaders that it was important that Copenhagen be a success, that there be the achievement of real concrete progress in Copenhagen with operational impact," Froman said.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by David Fogarty)


[Green Business]
APEC leaders believe final climate deal unlikely in December
Sat Nov 14, 2009 9:21pm EST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Many Asia-Pacific leaders agreed on Sunday that it was unlikely they would clinch a legally binding deal at next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen, a U.S. official said.

"I don't think the negotiations have proceeded in such a way that many of the leaders thought it was likely that we were going to achieve a final agreement in Copenhagen," a top U.S. negotiator, Michael Froman, told reporters.

"And yet they thought it was important that Copenhagen be an important step forward, including with operational impact."

Froman was speaking after a breakfast meeting of 19 of the 21 leaders at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore, the last major gathering of global decision-makers before Copenhagen.

Present at the meeting were Obama and the leaders of China, Japan, Russia, Australia and Indonesia.

The leaders heard a speech by Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, host of the Copenhagen talks, who is hoping for a political deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, leaving legally binding decisions until later.

With Kyoto's first phase set to run out in 2012, the December 7-18 Copenhagen talks are seen as the last chance for all countries to agree on painful measures needed to ease the pace of climate change.

The aim of the U.N. meeting is to set ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases, but also to raise funds to help poor countries tackle global warming.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Dean Yates)

news20091115reut2

[Top News] from [REUTERS]

[Green Business]
Danish PM's speech on political deal for Copenhagen talks
Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:29pm EST

Singapore (Reuters) - Denmark's prime minister proposed a deal to rescue stalled climate change negotiations in a speech to Asia Pacific leaders in Singapore on Sunday.

Following are excerpts from the remarks by Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who flew to Singapore on an unannounced visit ahead of the December 7-18 Copenhagen talks. Rasmussen spoke to 19 of the 21 leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

* * *

"With the Copenhagen deadline fast approaching, the question on everybody's lips is: can we make it? My answer is yes. It is absolutely doable: If we focus on what we can agree, a strong, comprehensive and global Agreement is within reach.

* * *

Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must ... focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible. We must base ourselves firmly on the instruments and principles already agreed and we must lock in the commitment expressed by countries throughout the world.

* * *

The Copenhagen Agreement should capture progress already achieved in the negotiations and at the same time provide for immediate action already from next year.

The Copenhagen Agreement should be political by nature, yet precise on specific commitments and binding on countries committing to reach certain targets and to undertake certain actions or provide agreed finance.

The Copenhagen Agreement should be global, comprehensive and substantial, yet flexible enough to accommodate countries with very different national circumstances.

The Copenhagen Agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion.

* * *

We have set out this vision of "one Agreement - two purposes" and we will consult you on the way ahead in our efforts to build global consensus on the specific terms of the Agreement. In this regard, I would like to use this opportunity to address some questions that have been raised in relation to the proposed format of the Copenhagen Agreement.

Will it be ambitious? Yes it will indeed. The overall aim will be to conclude a binding agreement that will set the path to limit global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius as recommended by science.

Will it divert from the agreed principles and instruments? No absolutely not. The agreement will build on already agreed legal instruments and principles...

Will it only be a partial agreement? No - we cannot do half a deal in Copenhagen and postpone the rest till later. The agreement will cover all the key issues and all parts of the Bali mandates. I do not share the view that it will be possible in Copenhagen to do some parts of the deal and not the other. We need the commitments. We need the figures. We need the action.

Will it be binding? Yes - it will be binding. Even if we may not hammer out the last dots of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come.

Let me be specific on the format: I envisage a political text framing the agreement, say 5-8 pages. Not a political declaration with niceties, but precise language of a comprehensive political agreement covering all aspects of the Bali mandates: Commitment of developed countries to reductions and of developing countries to actions. Strong provisions on adaptation, finance and technology, including up front finance for early action.

Beneath that we will have underlying annexes outlining the specific commitments of individual countries. These will be negotiated and they will be subject to a transparent system of measurement, reporting and verification.

We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook...

Are we losing sight of a new legal treaty or doing away with the Kyoto Protocol? No... The Copenhagen Agreement will build on the principles of the Convention and on the experience of the Kyoto Protocol. On that basis, we shall mandate continued negotiations and we shall set a deadline for agreeing new legal terms.

Are we then pushing action forward into an uncertain future where we may never agree? No again. Our vision is that the Copenhagen Agreement provides for immediate action to commence even before a full new legal framework is agreed, signed, ratified and effective.

* * *

It is my firm view that the vision I have outlined to you is not one among many possible ways ahead. It may well be the only one...

What matters at the end of the day is the ability of the Copenhagen Agreement to capture and reinforce global commitment to real actions.

Equity and realism must guide our efforts. We should not look for another international declaration of intent but strive for an agreement to commit.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)


[Green Business]
SNAP ANALYSIS: APEC nations back face-saving climate plan
Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:29pm EST
By David Fogarty

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama backed on Sunday a compromise proposal to ensure U.N. climate talks next month in Copenhagen don't end in failure.

The decision comes as 19 Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Singapore said on Sunday it was unlikely a tougher, and legally binding, U.N. climate deal would be agreed at the Dec 7-18 Danish talks.

Bickering over emissions reduction targets, climate financing for poorer nations and how to measure, report and prove emissions reduction steps have bogged down U.N. climate talks for months.

The U.N. has set a December deadline to agree a broader climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013, with that goal now pushed into 2010 at least.

The Danish proposal tries to deal with the reality of too many unresolved issues and the need to deliver a politically binding agreement that would capture progress already achieved in the U.N. negotiations, and at the same time provide for immediate action already from next year.

Support for Danish Prime Minister's Lars Lokke Rasmussen's "one agreement -- two purposes" proposal gives the troubled U.N. climate negotiations breathing space by aiming for a politically binding agreement in Copenhagen. Legally binding details would be worked out later.

In particular, it will give Obama's administration more time to try to get a sweeping climate bill through the Senate. Analysts say it needs to pass the Senate in the first few months of 2010 to avoid becoming pushed aside in the run-up to mid-term elections.

But it will not ease the pressure on the United States, the world's number two greenhouse gas emitter, to offer a much tougher mid-term emissions reduction target.

The current Senate draft climate bill outlines a reduction of 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, but this is far below the cuts the U.N. climate panel says are need from rich countries to avert dangerous climate change.

Many developing countries say rich nations' collective cuts are far below the 25-40 percent reductions from 1990 levels by 2020, the U.N. climate panel says.

The U.N. talks process has run out of time, with too much to be agreed to seal a broad, legally binding agreement in little more than a month.

Hence Denmark's "Plan B," which aims to capitalize on the stated desire of world leaders for Copenhagen to deliver a successful outcome.

Denmark also hopes the agreement would mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion.

But analysts point to the risk of that deadline slipping if the U.S. political will to agree on emissions targets and carbon cap-and-trade fails, particularly if the U.S. economy falters.

It also risks growing frustration from developing countries which accuse rich nations of not doing enough to fight climate or help poorer states adapt to its impacts.

Developing nations, including big emitters Indonesia and Brazil, have recently laid out tough, voluntary targets to curb emissions by 2020.

South Korea has opted for a tough voluntary 2020 target as well, underscoring the point that developing nations are already moving to curb their emissions, with some of targets they have announced being more ambitious than those of many rich nations.

All this adds pressure on Denmark to ensure the face-saving proposal yields an agreement in Copenhagen that doesn't erode nations' desire to reach a tougher pact as soon as possible.

It will also need to spell out more clearly how the fight against climate change fairly splits the burden and the financial bill between all nations.

(Editing by John Chalmers)

news20091115reut3

[Top News] from [REUTERS]

[Green Business]
FACTBOX: Quotes on hopes for Copenhagen climate talks
Sun Nov 15, 2009 2:37am EST

(Reuters) - Asia-Pacific leaders threw struggling U.N. climate negotiations a lifeline on Sunday by backing a proposal for nations to seek a political deal at a major climate summit in Denmark next month and leave agreement on legally binding issues for later.

Following are comments on the face-saving proposal by U.N. climate talks host Denmark.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen flew overnight to Singapore to meet leaders of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum over breakfast to try to win broad agreement on his two-step approach to prevent failure at the Dec 7-18 Copenhagen talks.

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD:

"There are only two choices here: action or inaction. There's no middle path, and it's our responsibility as leaders to act."

"There is a lot of pessimism in the international community at the moment about our ability to craft an outcome at Copenhagen," he told reporters.

"It's going to be tough as all hell, but let me tell you I believe everyone is seeking, right now, to put their best foot forward, and that was reflected in what transpired around a small table of 20 world leaders this morning."

CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO

"Developed countries should proceed with taking on deep cuts; developing countries should cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change, in line with their individual circumstances and with the aid of funds and technology transfer from developed countries," he told APEC leaders on Sunday.

"Establish an effective funding mechanism for developed countries to provide financial support to developing countries.

"Through an effective mechanism, technology beneficial to the environment and climate should be extended, made widespread, and transferred to raise developing countries' capacity to fight climate change."

MICHAEL FROMAN, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY

ADVISER FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

"There was widespread support among the leaders that it was important that Copenhagen be a success, that there be the achievement of real concrete progress in Copenhagen with operational impact," he told reporters.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days."

"I don't think the negotiations have proceeded in such a way that many of the leaders thought it was likely that we were going to achieve a final agreement in Copenhagen."

DIANE MCFADZIEN, WWF GLOBAL CLIMATE INITIATIVE

"The APEC Summit has confirmed the fact that right now it is impossible for world leaders to get together without having serious talks about climate change. It's encouraging to see them agree on the urgent need for success in Copenhagen.

"However, heads of states must go beyond simply discussing the problems. They have to start solving them. Deleting rather than strengthening emission reduction targets in their Leaders Declarations -- like they did here in Singapore -- is certainly not a solution.

CHILEAN FOREIGN MINISTER MARIANO FERNANDEZ

"We believe it is better to have something good than to have nothing at all. We are trying to get to an agreement, especially in the financial part to guarantee economic incentives so countries can engage in emissions cuts," he told reporters.

STATEMENT FROM MEXICAN PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON

"He is convinced that if an agreement can be reached on a mechanism for global financing at the next climate change meeting, it will be much easier to achieve clear and pragmatic measures."

"President Felipe Calderon emphasized the need to associate objectives to reduce carbon emissions with economic incentives in order to effectively reach mitigation targets."

(Reporting by Patrick Markey, Caren Bohan, Lucy Hornby and David Fogarty; Editing by Bill Tarrant)


[Green Business]
World leaders back delay to final climate deal
Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:16am EST
By Caren Bohan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders on Sunday rallied around plans to avert a failure at next month's climate summit in Copenhagen that would delay legally binding agreements until 2010 or even later.

"Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must, in the coming weeks, focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible," Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the leaders.

"The Copenhagen Agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion," said the Copenhagen talks host, who flew into Singapore overnight to lay out his proposal over breakfast at an Asia-Pacific summit.

Rasmussen's two-step plan would pave the way for a political accord at the December 7-18 talks, followed by tortuous haggling over legally binding commitments on targets, finance and technology transfer on a slower track, though still with a deadline.

In particular, it would give breathing space for the U.S. Senate to pass carbon-capping legislation, allowing the Obama administration to bring a 2020 target and financing pledges to the table at a major U.N. climate meeting in Bonn in mid-2010.

Analysts say it needs to pass through the Senate early next year to avoid becoming pushed aside in the run-up to mid-term elections.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days," senior U.S. negotiator Michael Froman told reporters after the meeting, which was attended by leaders of the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Australia and Indonesia.

"We believe it is better to have something good than to have nothing at all," Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez said.

"TIME FOR LEADERS TO STEP IN"

Copenhagen was seen as the last chance for countries to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol and put in place painful measures needed to fight a rise in temperatures that would bring more rising sea levels, floods and droughts.

The aim of the summit is to set ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases, but also to raise funds to help poor countries tackle global warming.

However, negotiations have been bogged down, with developing nations accusing the rich world of failing to set themselves deep enough 2020 goals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Leaders ... were clear in their view that the current officials-led process is running into all sorts of difficulties, and therefore it is time for leaders, politically, to step in," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters after the meeting with Rasmussen.

It was not clear if China, now the world's biggest carbons emitter, had lined up behind the two-stage proposal in Singapore.

Chinese President Hu Jintao instead focused his remarks at the breakfast meeting on the need to establish a funding mechanism for rich nations to provide financial support to developing countries to fight climate change.

He was echoed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who said that if an agreement could be reached on a mechanism for global financing at Copenhagen it would be "much easier to achieve clear and pragmatic measures."

Their comments came a day after the presidents of France and Brazil, in a joint document, called for "substantial" financial help from richer countries to help them tackle emissions.

NEW DEADLINE COULD SLIP

Despite the talk in Singapore of urgent action on climate change, a statement issued after the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit dropped an earlier draft's reference to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Environmental lobby group WWF voiced disappointment.

"At APEC, there was far too much talk about delay, and what won't be accomplished in Copenhagen," spokesperson Diane McFadzien said in a statement. "This does not look like a smart strategy to win the fight against climate change."

"In Copenhagen, governments need to create a legally binding framework with an amended Kyoto Protocol and a new Copenhagen Protocol. Legally binding is the only thing that will do if we want to see real action to save the planet."

Rasmussen said a two-step approach would not mean a "partial" agreement in Copenhagen and insisted that it would be binding.

However, analysts said a new deadline could slip if Washington's political will to agree on emissions targets and carbon cap-and-trade fades, which would be a particular risk if the U.S. economic recovery falters.

There is also a risk of growing frustration from developing countries which accuse rich nations of not doing enough to fight climate or help poorer states adapt to its impacts.

(Additional reporting by David Fogarty, Oleg Shchedrov, Yoo Choonsik and Lucy Hornby; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)