By Joydeep Gupta
Copenhagen, Dec 18 (IANS) As the clock ticked down on the Copenhagen climate summit and negotiators settled down for hard bargaining through the night, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon rued that negotiations “have been very slow”, but added: “I have not seen anything to indicate we can’t seal a deal”.

In a briefing for select media from around the world, Ban said here: “I believe we can seal a deal because all major players want it. Over 130 world leaders are here. If they can’t seal a deal, who can?”

Pointing out that there were only 24 hours before a Copenhagen agreement had to be finalised, Ban said: “What must be the keywords now are common sense, compromise and courage.

“It is our moral and political imperative and responsibility to work for the future of humanity. World leaders have to take action.”

Asked what his response would be if there was no deal in Copenhagen, Ban responded: “We have to have a deal.”

The UN Secretary General noted that there had been important pledges made before and during the summit on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and financing poor countries to cope with climate change effects.

He described the US promise to put together $100 billion a year to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries as “very encouraging. I’m sure that will have very important political dynamics.”

Rich countries have already pledged $10 billion a year for the next three years, the so-called start-up finance. Ban said: “In addition to this, I have been urging long-term financial commitments”.

Asked who would pay what percentage of the $100 billion, he replied: “Financial support plus the burden sharing formula are major items of the (ongoing) negotiations”. But overall, he was confident $100 billion a year “up to 2020 and beyond will help developing countries mitigate (their own greenhouse gas emissions) and adapt” to cope with climate change effects.

The UN chief however rued that the total emission mitigation pledges made by developed and developing countries till now had “not reached the scale science tells us” the world must reach to keep global temperature rise within two degrees Celsius.

Even as the UN chief was speaking, some of the NGOs shadowing the negotiations behind closed doors leaked a draft discussion paper that said current mitigation pledges would mean a three-degree rise in global temperature.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said any rise above two degrees would have “unforeseen and catastrophic consequences”. Small island countries, which are already losing their coastlines due to rising sea level, have demanded global temperature rise be kept within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Referring to the leaked document, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said: “This is the single most important piece of paper in the world today. It shows in stark terms that the climate deal on the table in Copenhagen would put at risk the very viability of our civilization on Earth.

“A three-degree rise in temperatures means devastation for Africa and the possible collapse of the ecosystems that billions of humans rely on. This document is the smoking gun. It puts world leaders on notice. They have one day left to step up, otherwise they will be remembered forever as the people who consigned the world to chaos.”