Domingo 20 de Mayo de 2012 08:21

The UN climate change conference opened Monday in an atmosphere of hope for a deal in Copenhagen within the next two weeks. “A deal is within our reach,” the Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in his opening speech, stressing that the talks will have to overcome deep distrust between rich and poor nations on how to share the burden of curbing emissions. The presence of more than a hundred world leaders meant “an opportunity the world cannot afford to miss,” Lars Løkke Rasmussen said.

At a press briefing, the President of the UN climate change conference, Connie Hedegaard, said that “the deadline is working,” referring to the fact that both developed and developing countries had been presenting emission reduction targets ahead of the conference. Asked if there is enough time to reach a deal in Copenhagen, Connie Hedegaard said that you never feel you have sufficient time for a task that has to be done, but “within the time we have, we must solve the task”.