China, others protest Danish chair's draft climate texts

COPENHAGEN, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and a number of other developing nations on Wednesday protested an attempt by the Danish presidency of the Copenhagen climate talks to put forward draft outcome texts without consulting other parties.

"This is a party-driven process. You can't just put forward some texts from the sky," China's chief negotiator Su Wei said at the conference after an announcement by the Danish presidency on the draft texts.

It has been agreed that the only legitimate basis for discussion on the outcome of the Copenhagen talks will be the outcome of the work by the two major working groups of the conference, Su said.

The move by the Danish presidency "would very much endanger the successful outcome in Copenhagen."

The texts also drew the criticism of India, Brazil and other developing nations, as well as some non-governmental organizations.

Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, accused the Danish prime minister of trying to "push an illegitimate process" and "derail the UN negotiations in favor of rich countries."

The top UN climate official, Yvo de Boer, played down the move. The Danish presidency prepared the texts to "offer a tool that can facilitate the process of decision-making" as a number critical issues still need to be resolved, he said.

"But ultimately it's up to the parties and governments that are represented here to decide what they want to use as the basis for their work," he told reporters.

A leaked Danish draft text that emerged in the first week of the talks also caused uproar in the developing world, which viewed the draft for setting sensitive limits and weak targets for developed nations.

Many countries are demanding a legally binding climate treaty be reached in Copenhagen, but divisions between developed and developing nations, mainly over emissions reduction and financing, were eroding chances of such a deal.

World leaders are arriving in Copenhagen to endorse efforts to reach a deal as the conference moved into the final segment. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has replaced Danish minister Connie Hedegaard as president of the UN climate talks for the final summit.