Kyoto holds key to Copenhagen consensus

In Copenhagen today, international climate negotiations grew tense after African countries objected to what they described as an attempt by rich countries to kill the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has expressed it will not sign on to the legally binding treaty that is currently in effect, saying reduction targets would apply only to a new treaty. But African nations are reluctant to move forward with the negotiation without the Kyoto treaty.

The dispute put the brakes conference negotiations for a few hours. The African countries want separate agreements for Kyoto and for the new protocol rather than merging the two into one, as the agenda called for today. Maria Bengashi is a negotiator from South Africa.

"We support our African chair...We support an open, bottom up , party driven process... the Kyoto process should come first."

As we go to broadcast, it appears the African countries succeeded in getting Kyoto back onto the negotiating agenda. A member of Ghana's delegation told FSRN he is hoping the negotiation gets back under way quickly.

"There's an acute sense that we're running out of time on this on this one. Maybe it's good and whips up the urgency on everybody's part but we've lost time and it's not going to be put together in the final analysis."

Another key issue moving forward at the conference is REDD - the program to reduce emissions from forest destruction and degradation when land is cleared for agriculture. Negotiators have been looking to the program to achieve 20 percent of the needed reductions in greenhouse gases. But indigenous groups and environmentalists say safeguards are missing from the text that has emerged out of the weekend negotiations. FSRN's Jenny Johnson has the story.