The EU may boycott US-sponsored talks on global warming involving the world's 17 major greenhouse gas emitting countries next month unless the US delegation at the UN Climate Change Conference agrees to a meaningful "Bali road map".
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas bluntly told US delegation chief Paula Dobriansky: "If we have an agreement here in Bali that is substantial, of course the major emitters' meeting has some importance. Otherwise, it's meaningless."
Former US vice president Al Gore, who arrived in Bali earlier, blamed his country as being "principally responsible for obstructing progress here", characterising it as "the elephant in the room that I have been undiplomatic enough to name".
The current deadlock revolves around the proposal - supported by the EU and opposed by the US, Canada and Japan - to include indicative target cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of between 25 and 40 per cent in the Bali mandate.
This mandate would form the basis for a further round of more intense negotiations over the next two years, with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement on how to deal with the threat posed by global warming before the end of 2009.
Yvo de Boer, Dutch executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned that the "whole house of cards" could collapse unless a strenuous effort was made to strike a bargain in Bali, possibly at an all-night session tonight.
He set a deadline of noon today (4am Irish time) for a working group of 40 countries to produce a revised draft of the proposed mandate - known as the "Bali road map" - so that it can be translated into the UN's six languages and then considered by the full conference.
"We're in a kind of all-or-nothing situation in that if we don't manage to get the work done on the future [ terms for negotiations] then the whole house of cards basically falls to pieces," Mr de Boer told a press briefing in Bali.
With time running out, he said he was "very concerned at the pace of things". But the main stumbling block is the proposal to specify a target range for developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 per cent between now and 2020. Rejecting this as prejudging the outcome, Ms Dobriansky said: "What we need now is a solid Bali road map, one that sets the stage for robust, constructive and ground-breaking negotiations." But Mr Dimas quipped: "What is a road map without a destination?"
In his speech to the conference's plenary session, Mr Gore urged other countries to "find a way to navigate around this enormous obstacle [the US]".