国际英语新闻：UN climate chief sees no agreement on long-term goal

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), speaks during a conference Nov. 19, 2008.

    POZNAN, Poland, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- When environment ministers worldwide are arriving in Poznan, Poland to focus on a shared vision on fighting climate change, the UN climate chief told reporters on Tuesday that he saw no agreement on long-term goal at the talks.

    "Quite frankly, I don't think we will see an agreement here on a long-term goal where we need to be by the middle of the century," Yvo de Boer said at a press conference in Poznan here.

    His comments indicated that the environment ministers will only meet later this week for discussions, while no concrete agreement, including one on the emission cut targets proposed by the developed countries, could be expected.

    The climate chief, however, still insisted that the ministerial meeting is "incredibly important," calling it a "stock-taking moment and an important moment to provide political guidance to the process."

    "It represents for the first time the ministers meet after Bali, and if things go according to plan, the last time ministers meet before Copenhagen," he said.

    Looking forward to a possible deal in Copenhagen, de Boer envisioned "the Copenhagen 2009 will put us on the road to transforming the global economy into a low-emission economy."

    The Poznan climate talks starting on Dec. 1 received low expectations from the very beginning due to the lingering financial crisis and a pending U.S. position at a time of power transition.

    A government delegate who has been taking part in negotiations during the past week told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that all parties concerned may not be able to reach any agreement on a shared vision with a concrete emission cut target.

    "Instead, a summary of the two-week talks may be released at the end of the talks, and it may be the only outcome," he said.