Isra-Mart srl:Cancun talks enter final day with deal hanging in the balance

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Negotiators in Cancun have been set a deadline of 6pm local time to close the talks and deliver an agreement that makes substantial progress towards a binding treaty, as reports suggest the prospects of a deal are on a knife edge.

Although it seems likely the talks will overrun in pursuit of a deal, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said the onus was on countries to use the final hours of the summit to deliver tangible progress towards a deal. "What is required now is proof of our collective political will, not more time for discussions," she said in a statement.

Negotiators worked into the early hours of this morning in an attempt to deliver a breakthrough on the most contentious issue of whether or not to extend the Kyoto Protocol with conflicting signals emerging on the prospects of a compromise.

The talks have been overshadowed by Japan's decision on the first day to announce it would not sign up to an extension of the Kyoto Protocol under any circumstances - a move that was immediately condemned by China and other developing countries who regard a second Kyoto commitment period as essential to any deal.

Reports this morning suggested talks chaired by Britain and Brazil to reach a compromise on the Kyoto issue had made good progress, although there were also indications Russia could join Japan in refusing to agree to a second commitment period.

Japan said it had resisted calls from the UN to reconsider its position, but Akira Yamada, a senior Japanese official, told news agency Reuters the on-going talks were seeking "some good wording with which we can accommodate, not only Japan, but other countries".

A draft of the text seen by Reuters suggests ministers could look to fudge the issue of extending Kyoto by simply calling for "the conclusion as soon as possible of... the negotiations for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol".

Several negotiators expressed hope a compromise could be reached with observers noting the entire summit has been held in a largely co-operative atmosphere.

But British Energy and Climate Change Summit Chris Huhne admitted the talks would go into their final day with the result hanging in the balance. "It is premature to say whether or not we're going to get a really good outcome or a car crash," he told reporters, adding that a number of countries would have to compromise if an agreement is to be reached.

US climate change envoy Todd Stern told reporters the stand off over Kyoto had the potential to undermine significant progress made on a number of other fronts. "[There's been] pretty good progress," he said. "You'd hate to lose that because the thing crashed over the Kyoto Protocol. It is not clear whether it's resolvable."

According to observers there has been significant progress towards a deal on a number of fronts, including mechanisms for protecting forests, setting up an international green fund, and monitoring, verifying and reporting emissions.

There was also encouraging news as India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh appeared to indicate in a TV interview that India could sign up to "binding" emission targets. His comments echoed that of the Chinese negotiating team, which earlier this week indicated for the first time it could envisage a scenario where it would volunteer emission targets that would then become binding.

However, other observers said the degree of progress has been over stated with many details yet to be finalized, while the US was accused of damaging the chances of a deal by refusing to support plans for a new green fund until the precise structure of the fund is agreed.

Huhne said failure to reach a deal later today would condemn the long-running UN negotiations to becoming a "zombie conference" where countries refuse to send ministers and leaders with the authority to finalise a treaty.