Adianto P. Simamora
THE JAKARTA POST/COPENHAGEN

Three days into the global climate talks have resulted in little progress on all issues, giving senior officials a small chance of putting the final touches to a deal that would be adopted by ministers or heads of states next week.

As of Wednesday, negotiators had yet to decide on the final drafts for issues including mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and climate financing that are to be discussed in the remaining days of negotiations.

Worse still, little has been agreed upon regarding the draft of longterm emission cut targets, considered vital to avoiding disastrous global wanning, particularly for those living in vulnerable nations.

""There are still many documents for one issue circulating in negotiating rooms while were running out of time,"" Indonesian negotiator Tri Tharyat said Wednesday.

""If there is the will to make Copenhagen a success, the negotiators can continue discussing the fine print in Barcelona [where the last negotiations took place],"" he said.Senior officials from 192 countries are scheduled to finish their task Saturday before handing negotiations over to the ministerial level.

About 105 heads of states including President Barack Obama of the United States, are confirmed to attend the final day of the climate talks.The document on long-term commitments was still 161 pages long, far from the ideal of less than 70 pages in order to reach an agreement

The 2007 Bali road map required all parties to have reached a new legally binding treaty in Copenhagen, to give enough time for countries to ratify it before its implementation in January 2013.

The agreement on the second global commitment on emission cuts was crucial as the first one under the binding Kyoto Protocol would expire in 2012.The Kyoto Protocol stipulates mandatory 5 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels for 37 rich nations. The United States, however, rejected the protocol.

The new cuts after 2012 were expected to bring the emission levels down by 25 to 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels.""Theres been no headway on the talks so far,"" said Tri.Chief negotiator Anders Turesson of the European Union expressed disappointment in the lack of progress on mitigation and adaptation talks for both the Kyoto Protocol and on long-term cooperative actions.""This is a big problem,"" he said.

The working group on long-term cooperation is discussing the target of emission cuts while the group of the Kyoto Protocol must seal a second commitment to cut emissions after 2012.The group of least developed countries (LDCs) also called on Copenhagen to reach an agreement on financing issues to support them in facing climate change.

Negotiator Bruno Tseliso Sekoli from Lesotho said the conference should also reach an agreement on technology deployment, diffusion and transfer and ensure access for the.poorest countries.""The finance regime should provide for easy access by developing countries, particularly taking into account the specific needs and special situations of the LDCs,"" he said.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu demanded stronger action from rich nations to curb global warming.
But other countries, including OPEC members rejected the proposals fearing their economy would be hurt by the strict limits required on burning fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, developed nations especially Australia, Japan and the United States rejected a draft on adaptation supported by the G77 and China.