Miliband 'pessimistic' over environmental legislation

Climate change secretary Ed Miliband admitted that the chance of a full, legally-binding treaty being signed at the United Nations (UN) Copenhagen summit next month is diminishing, according to a report in the Guardian.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: "The UN negotiations are moving too slowly and not going well."

With the international conference on climate change due to start in the Danish capital in just over a month, Mr Miliband emphasised the need to focus on formulating a timetable that leads to a treaty.

He cited a "history of mistrust" between nations in the developed and developing world as the main obstacle to negotiations.

Mr Miliband stressed that developing countries need to act to reduce the amount of emissions, while the western world needs to commit to significant reductions.

Earlier this week, African nations boycotted a UN climate change summit in Barcelona over disagreements relating to the level of emission cuts that developed nations plan to make.

Posted by Joseph Hutton