Climate protests

Protesters planned to storm the venue of a United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday, as negotiators from the nearly 200 countries participating sought to overcome deadlock.

More than 100 protesters were arrested Wednesday trying to break into the conference. Police in anti-riot gear fired tear gas and erected concrete barriers around the Bella Center venue after activists from the Climate Justice Action group said they would attempt to disrupt the marathon proceedings.

Danish police have apprehended more than 1,200 people during protests that took place over the weekend.

Climate Justice Action spokesman Tadzio Mueller was arrested by Danish police Tuesday while leaving the Bella Center after a press conference. The German citizen was suspected of planning illegal actions.

Mueller called on Monday for offensive but nonviolent protests to take place Wednesday, the Tageszeitung newspaper in Berlin reported.

"On that day we will make history, and we will not end up in those cages," he said, referring to cages being used by Danish police to hold those arrested.

Time running out

Inside the conference center, environment ministers were holding talks aimed at keeping global warming in check.

With talks scheduled to end on Friday, world leaders are running out of time to agree to a deal that would limit CO2 emissions and be a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for compromise amid concerns that the talks may be heading for failure.

"The time for unreasonable demands and pressure on your negotiating partners is over," Ban said on Tuesday. "The time for consensus has arrived."

Officials say emission cuts by rich nations, and financial aid to poorer nations, are two of the biggest obstacles remaining to an effective political deal.

But other fault lines include: who should manage and hand out the billions of dollars of aid money that poor nations need in order to mitigate and adapt to global warming; and how to verify and enforce emission reduction targets.

Moreover, there is still no consensus on whether to limit global warming to within 2 degrees centigrade against pre-industrial levels, as advised by scientists, or whether to go for a 1.5-degree limit, as requested by low-lying island nations whose survival is threatened by rising sea temperatures.

Gps/dpa/AFP/Reuters

Editor: Sean Sinico