French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said a failure in Copenhagen would be catastrophic and backed calls by developing nations to keep the Kyoto Protocol.
The U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen is entering its final day on Friday, with world leaders trying to agree on global measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2012. However, negotiators have so far failed to settle the differences.
In his address to participants of the climate talks on Thursday, Nicolas Sarkozy called on nations to "stop posturing".
"A failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe for each and everyone of us," the French president said, adding "if we keep on heading where we are going, we are heading for failure."
The conference, which bring together about 15,000 participants from 192 countries, was suspended on Wednesday over a dispute between the world's biggest polluters, the United States and China, over binding targets.
"So people want to keep Kyoto, OK let's keep Kyoto. But let us agree on an overall political umbrella," Sarkozy said.
He called for nations to reach an agreement on the climate issue by June at latest.
"Let's give ourselves six months after the Copenhagen conference to transform political commitments into a legal text," the president said.
The Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding agreement which only requires rich nations to cut carbon emissions, expires in 2012.
The 15th UN climate change conference, the result of two years of international talks on a binding treaty to cut global carbon emissions, began in the Danish capital on December 7. The talks bring together about 15,000 participants from 192 countries.
Scientists have warned that the emissions cuts so far offered at the summit would fail to prevent a catastrophic rise in temperatures.
MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti)
