It's not being touted as such, but the latest document from the United Nations climate convention (UNFCCC) is the clearest admission we've yet had that UN talks are in the mire. Add it to the latest word from the US Senate, and "mire" hardly seems strong enough. Let's take the global document first. At the last round of UNFCCC negotiations in Bonn, the convention's secretariat was asked to prepare a "what if?" document. In this case, the question is "what do we do if the Kyoto Protocol discussions don't agree a set of carbon cutting targets and other outstanding issues that can come into effect in 2012 when the current set of targets expires?" The secretariat's role in this isn't political, but legal. Its mandate was to set out options that governments could elect to pursue; what to do is their choice

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