Tensions are still running high at the Copenhagen climate summit. Tuvalu, the small Pacific island state which yesterday brought negotiations to a spectacular stand-still, has objected to Connie Hedegaard’s, President of the summit, proposal to break the deadlock.

Hedegaard said that the dispute should be resolved informally, but Tuvalu insisted that talks take place in the full plenary of country representatives.

The clash centres on a split among the developing countries – unusual since they normally speak with a more united voice – over what type of agreement should emerge from the Copenhagen summit.

A group of island states – including the Cook Islands, Barbados and Fiji – spearheaded by Tuvalu is calling for a legally binding agreement, stronger than the current Kyoto agreement.

They are opposed by a group of more industrialised developing countries including China, India, Brazil and some Middle Eastern countries. A stronger deal, aiming to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C, could hold-back their economic development, that group says.

Hedegaard is still trying to find a way to proceed with the talks, Gloria Rodrigues from EWEA said. “The atmosphere is exciting and tense. Right now they cannot agree on a way forward.”

But Rodrigues was optimistic that Hedegaard will find a way forward that allows the talks to continue.

The small island states stand to be the biggest losers from climate change with the possibility that large parts of their shores will be swallowed up by rising sea levels. Barry Coates, Director of Oxfam New Zealand, said: “there are some beautiful countries we should not be losing.”