Copenhagen summit

Yvo de Boer is the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He was appointed to the post by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2006. One of his department's tasks is to provide support to the compliance regime of the Kyoto Protocol, the landmark pact for tackling greenhouse-gas emissions. The UN climate conference in Copenhagen from December 7 - 18 will focus on an agreement to take effect after Kyoto expires in 2012.

Deutsche Welle: For a long time the UN climate summit has been viewed as an all-or-nothing event. Is that what it still is?

de Boer: I think so. I think it is an all-or-nothing event in the sense that we need to see a number of things come together. We need rich country emission reduction targets, individual targets for rich countries, secondly we need to know what China, India, Brazil, major development countries, will do to lower the growth in emissions, thirdly we need prompt start financing to help developing countries engage. Fourthly we need a set of decisions that will make immediate action operational.

That all sounds very concrete. In the press in the run-up to the conference there are all sorts of terms like outlines, pledges, frameworks, meaningful bids. That doesn't sound like what you are talking about.

No, it doesn't, but if I listen to what the Danish Prime Minister is saying, he is the one who will be inviting heads of state and governments for the closing. Then if I listen to what Connie Hedegaard, the minister who will chair the conference, is saying and if I listen to myself, then at least the three of us are saying exactly the same thing.

The Chinese appear to have seen the light regarding the need to de-carbonize their economy as much as possible so as not to despoil their environment. But both the Chinese and the Indians have been arguing in recent years that they should have room for carbon-based industrial growth so they can provide their huge populations better living standards. Is there room for that any more?

There has to be room for that. China is changing its approach not only because of love of the environment and the fear of climate change, but also because I believe you cannot continue to grow the Chinese economy at the current pace in the current way. There has to be a fundamental change.

And yes, to have to leave space for developing countries to grow. In India, there are 400 million people that don't even have access to electricity. The goal of Copenhagen should not be to keep people living under those circumstances. So we will see growth in emissions in some countries.

The interview was conducted by Peter Craven

Editor: Kyle James