Yvo DeBoer - Finalizing Climate Deal In Copenhagen "Impossible" - AFP

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It will be "impossible" to conclude a comprehensive climate treaty in Copenhagen in December, but a strong political deal is still a must, the UN's top climate official said Wednesday.

"It is physically impossible under any scenario to complete every detail of a treaty in Copenhagen," said Yvo de Boer, executive director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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n order to succeed, Copenhagen would have to bring "absolute clarity" on four key points, all of which remain essentially stalemated barely a month ahead of the December conference, de Boer said. The meeting must decide by how much rich countries will cut greenhouse emissions by 2020 and 2050, and what major developing nations -- including China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia -- will do to limit growth of their emissions, he said.

In addition, rich countries must say how much they will give poor nations to help them reduce carbon pollution and cope with projected climate change impacts ranging from flood and drought to food scarcity and increased disease burdens. Finally, the conference must determine how that financing -- set to run into hundreds of billions of dollars annually within a decade -- will be managed.

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http://www.terradaily.com/2007/091028143750.c2o4ual9.html