Hope dwindles for binding climate change treaty in Durban

Efforts to reach a new deal on reducing global warming are at a critical phase.

Europe’s top negotiator said the United States, China and India could kill the last chance that exists for a deal before the Durban Climate Summitt ends. Negotiators are working through the weekend in hopes of putting in place some sort of plan to replace the expiring Kyoto Treaty from 1997.

Eric Camara, a reporter for the BBC in Durban, South Africa, said there was an optimistic outlook Thursday night that a deal would be reached, but as of Friday, virtually all of the optimism has vanished.

“What we have is a bit of a blocking states between India, China and the other countries, the United States,” Camara said. “They could have a deal coming out that is acceptable to the U.S., but that would be unacceptable to the small island nations and the least developed countries, and the E.U. is backing those countries.”

The primary goal of these large emitters is to put a deal in place that would not actually take effect until after 2020. That’s too late, though, for many of the small island nations who could see the oceans completely engulf their nations.

“They wanted something started from now, as soon as possible,” Camara said. “As things stands at the moment,it’s very hard to see a legally binding deal will come through at the end of this meeting.”

Camara said what no one wants is this very important meeting to end without a deal of any kind, especially because it’s beind held in Africa.

“As we all know, Africa is the country most effected by climate change,” he said.