Efforts to revive UN climate talks after last December's Copenhagen Summit wrangled Saturday over how to whip the arduous negotiation process towards a post-2012 global treaty. Countries sought a new platform for catalysing the talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) banner and fought over whether to establish a single core group of countries that would haggle over major issues and then consult with their fellow nations. Backers said the idea could end the battles that nearly led to catastrophe in Copenhagen, where 120 heads of state and government mustered for what was supposed to be a triumph. "After two years we gave our leaders more than 100 pages of brackets -- (it's) not exactly an endorsement of our working methods," US chief delegate Jonathan Pershing said, referring to the many parentheses denoting disputed text. The European Union (EU), Australia and some developing countries, including Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, also favoured the contact group, arguing that it could accelerate matters yet not impinge on international consensus. But other countries warned against any innovation that sapped national sovereignty. Bolivian chief delegate Pablo Solon blasted the process as an "anti-democratic" huddle by the select.

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