UN abandons climate change deadline

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87479ee2-0600-11df-8c97-00144feabdc0.html

But Yvo de Boer, the UN’s senior climate change official, admitted that the deadline had in effect been shelved.

“By [the end of] January, countries will have the opportunity to . . . indicate if they want to be associated with the accord,” he said. “[Governments could] indicate by the deadline, or they can also indicate later.”

“You could describe it as a soft deadline,” Mr de Boer said. “There is nothing deadly about it. If [countries] fail to meet it, they can still associate with the Copenhagen accord after.”