All-night talk as time runs out

COPENHAGEN: Ministers will have to continue to work round the clock to remove at least five stumbling blocks to ensure that the ongoing United Nations Climate Conference (COP15) delivers a successful outcome, Connie Hedegaard, the conference's president said yesterday.

They'd already worked late into the night, but "it is very clear that the ministers have to be extremely busy and focused in the next 48 hours if we want to make the success we are trying to make," said Hedegaard, who is also Denmark's former energy and environment minister.

The impasse revolves around not only the emission reduction targets that will be set for developed countries, but also the actions that emerging economies must deliver to contribute to global effort to slow down the global warming.