U.N. lowers expectations for Copenhagen climate deal

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Monday lowered expectations for clinching a legally binding agreement at a U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, saying it might take longer to secure a final deal.

For months Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other top officials at the United Nations have been urging industrialized and developing nations to overcome their differences so they can "seal the deal" and get a binding agreement in Copenhagen.

But recently U.N. officials and diplomats have said privately that it is unlikely a legally binding deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be clinched at the Copenhagen summit. They have suggested that the most that could be expected was a nonbinding political declaration.

Ban's climate adviser Janos Pasztor made clear that the secretary-general was planning for "post-Copenhagen" talks.

He said Ban believes we must "continue to aim for an ambitious politically binding agreement in Copenhagen that would chart the way for future post-Copenhagen negotiations that lead to a legally binding global agreement."

"Climate change is not going to be resolved in Copenhagen in the next few weeks," Pasztor said. "We always knew that. It's a long-term problem that will be with us for many years, if not decades, to come. So Copenhagen has to be a milestone."

Ban told a gathering of business leaders in Seattle that he still wanted a strong result in Copenhagen. "We will do our best and try to have a substantive agreement," he said.

"After Copenhagen we may not expect ... to agree on all elements," he said. "But we should have a broad agreement."