Negotiations are going down to the wire at the UN Climate Change talks in Cancún, Mexico. Delegates are meeting late into the night – not try strike a new climate pact – but to save the only existing legally binding one.

 

Days of talk but still no consensus. And the future of the Kyoto protocol is at stake.

The issue has been on the front burner since day one when Japan announced it wouldn’t renew its obligations beyond 2012. And now other countries are indicating they’ll follow suit.

Alexander Bedritsky, Russian Special Envoy for Climate Change, said, "Russia will not participate in a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol."

Greg Combet, Sustralian Climate Change Minister, said, "A single treaty for all parties would be the simplest and most transparent option."

John Baird, Candian Environment Minister, said, "Success in the fight against global warming will only come with everyone aboard, everyone with an oar in the water and everyone rowing together."

The Kyoto Protocol is the only legally binding commitment that sets emissions reduction targets for some of the world’s richest countries.

But some nations are refusing to sign on to more targets. They say since the US never implemented Kyoto, and China is not obligated to reach any targets, the pact is not inclusive, and that’s not fair.