Intense climate talks stretch into final hours

AP – Environmental activists from 350.org, left, demonstrate before the cameras of journalists during the convention

CANCUN, Mexico – Exhausted climate negotiators labored nonstop through the night and into their final day Friday, bargaining intensely over draft accords and seeking small, but essential steps to stem global warming.

If successful, the two-week Cancun meeting will create a fund of $100 billion a year for developing countries threatened by altered weather patterns, and give them the technology to leapfrog old petroleum-based economic development in favor of clean energy.

"This is a crucial day, not only for the process but for the climate," said Joke Schauvliege, a leader of the European Union delegation.

In a late-night session, negotiating groups reported they had settled some disputed wording and clauses, but other knotty issues remained to be sorted out. One issue, related to pledges by industrial and developing countries to rein in emissions of heat-trapping gases, appeared deadlocked.

"We have very limited time," said the conference chair, Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, affirming that negotiators worked through the night. Delegates were beginning to stumble over their words with fatigue as they described the state of play in the talks.

Despite the reported progress, the EU's top climate official, Connie Hedegaard, said countries were withholding approval on all issues until everything is ready. "Everything is still being negotiated until we have the full package," she told reporters. "Nothing is cut in stone."

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