11 December

Climate summit talks are taking place behind closed doors today in Copenhagen. The secrecy is understood to be a bid to break the deadlock over Tuvalu’s - the Pacific island state which on Wednesday demanded a legally-binding summit outcome – decision to block talks.

Copenhagen insiders said the negotiators are likely to be discussing which draft text should form the basis of an agreement. There are several options on the negotiating table – a political agreement, which would be the weakest form of deal to emerge from the summit; an extension of the existing Kyoto Protocol with an additional agreement bringing the US onboard; or a completely new agreement which could be coined the ‘Copenhagen Protocol’.

Talks could re-open tomorrow, but the Bella centre – where the summit is taking place – will be closed on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, European leaders have agreed to commit a total of €2.4 billion a year for 2010-2012 to a short-term climate fund for developing countries.

“I am pleased that all 27 Member States and the Commission have contributed”, Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s Prime Minister, said after the meeting.

The fund will be spent on climate change adaptation measures for the most vulnerable and poorest developing countries. “We now want to encourage the rest of the world to contribute to reach a total of €7 billion for the fund”, he said. “It would be good if we could get an agreement on this in Copenhagen,” Reinfeldt added.

In other news, Denmark’s Politiken has reported that climate activists demonstrating in the city centre were met by a heavy police presence. At one point, some 300 demonstrators were cordoned off on a Copenhagen bridge.

Their targets were understood to have included McDonalds, Deloitte, ArcelorMittal and Shell.

Next week a raft of high-profile leaders and other personalities are expected in Copenhagen. On Sunday, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is set to visit the centre. More royals will arrive – Prince Charles of the UK will land in Copenhagen on Tuesday and Queen Margrethe II will host a gala dinner on Thursday.

More than 110 world leaders will touch-down in Copenhagen on Friday, including US President Barack Obama, for the final day of talks which could continue until the small hours of the morning.