Expectations for a legally binding climate treaty appeared to be fading at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, as its first week of business wrapped up Saturday.

A family passes by one of the stands promoting green energy at the Climate Village in Cancun, Mexico, Saturday. UN climate talks in Cancun ran into a storm Friday as a deepening split emerged over the future of the carbon-cutting Kyoto Protocol.

This somber mood came as countries debated about extending the Kyoto Protocol past its first enforcement period of 2012.

A 33-page, new UN draft text, which was released Sunday, leaves two options open for determining the future of the Kyoto Protocol, Reuters reported. The first allows for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol and the second is an unclear unbinding statement.

Future aid to the poor, a major stumbling block for the talks so far, was addressed with two options being outlined, according to Reuters. The first would be a fund of US$100 billion a year from 2020, which is favored by rich nations. The other would demand that rich nations contribute 1.5 percent of their GDP annually to the fund, representing a much higher sum.

"The creation of a green fund to channel aid to the poor countries is constructive," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said "but many details need to be addressed, such as how the fund can be put in place, and where the funds can be channeled."

The draft outlines the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum average rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. However, many developing countries insisted on a reduction of 1.5 degrees before the start of the summit.

This impasse has come as Japan, Mexico and Canada have all insisted they will not extend Kyoto, and they are gunning for a brand new treaty that would encompass China and India. Meanwhile, poorer nations say they will only do more if Kyoto backers take the lead by extending the 1997 deal.

Su Wei, the chief Chinese negotiator and head of the climate change department of China's National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters Saturday that China will not compromise on issues of principle. This includes the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, which China views as the basis for a package of agreements to be made in Cancun.

Lin said Japan's refusal to extend Kyoto has polluted the atmosphere of the negotiations. It risks derailing the meeting as many other developed countries will use this opportunity to follow Japan's lead.

Bi Xinxin, with Oxfam Hong Kong, told the Global Times that the UN draft is an encouraging outcome and a foundation for the high-level talks to come.

Bi suggested that the next stage of talks should revolve around making substantial arrangements for the urgent issues facing developing countries, such as "adaptation and funding."

"Developed countries should be aware that developing countries have taken a lot of effective measures to curb emissions," he said.

Environmental ministers began arriving in Cancun over the weekend for a high-level meeting.

Negotiators from China, Japan and the EU have all dismissed rumors that a secret text exists that would essentially replace the Kyoto Protocol with the Copenhagen Accord. This would limit global warming to a maximum temperature of up to 5 degrees Celsius.

(Global Times December 6, 2010)