Delegates from around 180 countries were fine-tuning a modified version of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming today as they wound up a two-week meeting in Germany.
Mr Jan Pronk, Dutch environment minister and chairman of the conference convened in Bonn by the United Nations, wanted all remaining technical issues sealed so governments had a full text for speedy ratification by their parliaments.
In-depth negotiations continued into today among officials already weary from all-night last-minute bargaining that saved the 1997 Kyoto pact on greenhouse gas reduction on Monday.
Officials said loose ends would probably be left for the next round of annual UN climate meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco, in late October, before the treaty would be ready for ratification by individual nations.
"We have the political statement. We're perilously close. Virtually all the legal decisions will be concluded," Mr Pronk's spokesman Mr Michael Williams said.
"There might be one or two that slip. It isn't a particular worry. It is just a case of too many words and too few hours," he added.
Participants said strong supporters of Kyoto hoped to complete the protocol early to improve chances that enough big industrial countries would ratify the treaty for it to take effect next year.
Environmental lobbyists said they feared attempts to delay the negotiations by nations less interested in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
As the summit drew to a close, German Environment Minister Mr Juergen Trittin lauded its success.
"The Bonn conference was a breakthrough in saving the Kyoto protocol. For the first time countries have committed themselves to a reduction in greenhouse gases, he told a news conference in Berlin. Now the way is clear for ratification," he said.
Countries accounting for 55 per cent of the 30-odd wealthy industrial nations' carbon dioxide emissions must ratify the treaty for it to take effect, forcing them to meet targets for cutting the emissions blamed for global warming.
Since the United States, which accounts for about a third of that output, has already rejected the deal, virtually all the big polluters, notably European Union states, Russia, Japan and Canada, must ratify the protocol for it to take effect.
All have said they are aiming to ratify next year. Mr Trittin said the accord should come into force before a global summit on sustainability in South Africa in September 2002.
He added that he was sure Washington would change its mind on the treaty as it came to appreciate the economic benefits of investing in energy-efficient technology and renewable power.
"In the long-term I am convinced that for the USA the advantages of the Kyoto protocol outweigh the disadvantages," he said.