Developing states call for suspension of climate conference

A number of developing countries proposed on Monday suspending the UN climate conference in Copenhagen and resuming it in June in Bonn, a convention source said.

The source told journalists that the proposal was voiced at closed talks with the conference chairman and head delegates.

"This means the UN climate conference could end in nothing. This is even worse than adopting a political deal that is not legally binding," World Wildlife Fund Russia representative Alexei Kokorin said, commenting on the report.

Sudan, the current chair of the G77 group of developing countries, led on Monday a boycott of talks at UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

The developing countries plus China said they wanted talks to focus more on the Kyoto Protocol rather than on broader discussions on climate change.

As a result of G77-China pressure, the conference participants agreed that issues relating to the Kyoto Protocol would be considered first and would be of higher priority than a new climate accord.

The G77 is a loose association of developing 130 countries.

The 15th UN climate change conference, the result of two years of international talks on a binding treaty to cut global carbon emission, began in Copenhagen on December 7.

The conference, which brings together about 15,000 participants from 192 countries, will run until December 18. It has so far failed to produce a plan to fight global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding agreement restricting carbon emissions, expires in 2012. A new deal is needed to continue efforts beyond 2012.

COPENHAGEN, December 14 (RIA Novosti)