Disputed draft urges 50% emission cut

NEW DELHI: The world should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels with the bulk of the reduction coming from rich countries, according to one draft proposal by Denmark, host of UN climate talks next week.

But Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said yesterday that his government had not put any proposal on the table, and Denmark's minister for the conference said "consultations are based on a variety of draft text proposals."

Rasmussen said that Denmark was consulting with all countries and a compromise proposal for an agreement would come only later. He said Denmark, as host of the conference, was working for a deal in line with a goal of limiting global warming to 2 C over pre-industrial times.