Rio+20: Wrangle over summit communique heads for overtime

Negotiations on a new global charter to protect the environment, due to be put to a summit in Rio next week, are set to go into overtime, officials said at the UN conference here on Friday. Talks on the so-called outcome document, scheduled to be endorsed at the June 20-22 "Rio+20" summit, entered their final day on Friday with agreement on only 28 percent of the 80-page text, they said. "It is widely expected that the responsibility for the outcome document will be handed over to Brazil, the incumbent presidency of the conference," said Nikhil Seth of the UN's Division for Sustainable Development. "They will then decide and explain to all participants what their plan (is) going forward over the next few days," he told a press conference. "It's very clear that everyone wants this process to finish before the arrival of the heads of state and government... it's everyone's hope that by (June) 19 at the latest, everything will be wrapped up." The document is designed to be the cornerstone of the Conference on Sustainable Development, the 20-year follow-up to the Earth Summit where UN members made historic agreements to combat climate change, wildlife loss and desertification. But progress has been mired by discord, usually pitching poor economies against rich ones, such as how to muster funds to promote green growth. "The final negotiations have gone almost nowhere since they began on Tuesday," said Stephen Hale of the British charity Oxfam. "It is developing countries and the world's poorest people who have most to lose from a weak outcome at Rio+20... after two years of talks, we still don't have clarity on either the vision or actions that will be agreed to forge a better future." The summit is taking place against a backdrop of ever-worsening news on the environment. Scientists say levels of climate-altering greenhouse gases are scaling new peaks. Many fisheries are suffering from catastrophic over-exploitation. And dozens of species, from frogs and birds to mammals, face the risk of extinction. At the same time, action to combat these perils has been crimped by the financial and budget crisis that has hit many rich economies.