Climate change deal may be ‘beyond UN’s reach’

AN all-encompassing climate deal “may be beyond our reach for now”, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has admitted.

He spoke after China and India delivered a setback to European plans to negotiate a new treaty that would bind all parties to pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.

The European “road map” towards a new accord, which would take effect after 2020, is a centrepiece of negotiations among 194 countries at the UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa.