Uh oh. From the NYT, a harbinger of failure. But then again looking at Copenhagen and Cancun, why should this meeting in Durban be any different?

Nations Heading to Durban Climate Talks Remain Deeply Divided – NYTimes.com

U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres lauded a climate change meeting in Panama as “good progress” this weekend, even as environmental activists warned that the world’s only structure for curbing greenhouse gas emissions appears about to crumble.

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“South Africa is the tipping point in terms of the future of the climate regime,” said Tasneem Essop, international climate policy advocate for the World Wildlife Fund in South Africa.

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Figueres on Friday lauded the European Union for helping to launch “constructive discussions” and said “governments are exploring those middle-ground solutions that would allow them to go forward with a second commitment period.”

Yet the United States, which is not a party to Kyoto but as the world’s largest historic carbon emitter is central to the future of the climate regime, appears to be putting the kibosh on such a compromise.

Speaking at a wrap-up press conference in Panama, U.S. Deputy Envoy Jonathan Pershing acknowledged that “the uncertainty over a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is a source of anxiety for many parties.” But in describing the E.U. proposal, Pershing said, “We do not believe that conditions are ripe in Durban for a legally binding agreement.”