It is crucial for the international community to prove that Cancun can deliver progress, European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said here on Monday.

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change opened Monday in Cancun, Mexico, launching a 10-day intergovernmental discussion over the ways to combat climate change.

"In 12 days from now, we must have made progress," the commissioner said at a press conference.

The European Union (EU) hopes Cancun will be the occasion to agree on a balanced package for developed and developing countries to act against climate change.

The bloc also reaffirmed its willingness to reach the CO2 reduction target and to reach an international legally binding agreement on climate change.

Hedegaard also said at the press conference that it is essential countries deliver on the fast-start financing.

The EU finally reminded that it is ready to undertake a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, but under some conditions, including the fact that other countries will have to deliver something as well, and the need to solve technical problems with environmental integrity stated in the protocol.

"One thing is to have the good intentions, but what really matters at the last day in Cancun is whether the will to compromise was there," Hedegaard said.