By John Acher
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Talks on a global climate treaty have been "painfully slow" and must speed up or they will fail to reach an agreement in December, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Saturday.
Governments are due to meet in Copenhagen on December 7-18 to try to reach a climate accord that would replace provisions of the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012.
"The sense of urgency is setting in as we approach the deadline," Rasmussen told an international gathering of parliamentarians at the Danish parliament.
"Negotiations have been ongoing for almost two years and progress has been painfully slow," he said. "Clearly, at current speed, we will not make it in the remaining weeks."
Rasmussen said progress had been made on some fronts, such as measures to adapt to climate change, technology and measures related to forestation and deforestation. But he said crucial political questions remain unresolved, including the commitment of industrialized nations to ambitious mid-term targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and developing countries' commitments to national measures to curb growth in their emissions.
Just two more high-level meetings are scheduled before negotiators arrive in Copenhagen for the December conference.
In less than a week, environment and climate ministers will meet in Barcelona, and in mid-November another ministerial meeting will be held in Copenhagen ahead of the December summit.
Lack of progress has led some governments and commentators to suggest the Copenhagen conference should aim for a partial deal and leave a global treaty until later.
But Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard told the gathering a partial agreement was not feasible because the various aspects of a deal, such as finance and adaptation measures, were interlinked.
"I believe that that will not fly," Hedegaard said.
"We must make politicians agree on a binding agreement now," she told the meeting of legislators from 16 major economies.
Hedegaard said financing for a climate deal was vital.
"I firmly believe that without money there will be no deal."
Rasmussen said it was still possible to outline the core elements of a climate agreement, and he urged political leaders to commit themselves to implement immediately a deal made in Copenhagen from the beginning of next year.
"I suggest that we lock in the determination to act already by Copenhagen and seek political commitment for immediate implementation," he said.
He said the Copenhagen agreement should be ambitious, binding and concrete and provide the basis for "world leaders to commit to specific immediate action, starting in January 2010."
(Additional reporting by Karin Jensen; Editing by Alison Williams)
