The UK government says it is highly unlikely that a new legally binding¹ climate treaty can be agreed this year - and a full treaty may be a year away.

英国政府称，一项具有法律约束力的气候协议很难在今年达成，完全的协议可能还需要一年的时间。

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Speculation has been rife that nations' deals would not be binding

Two years ago, the world's governments vowed⁴ to finalise（结束，完结） a new treaty at next month's climate summit in Copenhagen.

Climate Secretary Ed Miliband has until now said it could be done - but now he says only a political deal is likely, echoing some other senior figures.

Developing countries reacted with frustration⁵ and disappointment.

"When we left (UN talks in) Bali two years ago, we all expected that would be agreeing on a legally binding outcome to respond to the urgency... that we were on the verge⁶ of（即将，快要） catastrophic climate change（气候剧变）, so we're very disappointed," said Selwin Hart from Barbados, speaking for the group of small island developing states.

"If we don't take urgent and ambitious（热望的，有抱负的） action, the reality is that some small island developing states will not be around within a couple of decades - certainly not by the end of the century."

This is thought to be the first time that UK ministers have acknowledged the slim chances of achieving anything legally binding.

In the middle of October, Mr Miliband said a new treaty looked "more do-able" following a meeting of the Major Economies Forum⁷ in London.

His comments now echo warnings from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and US chief climate negotiator Todd Stern that only a "politically binding" agreement can now be achieved.

Officials then warned it could take up to a full year to finalise the treaty.

Political vacuum

"We would have preferred a full legal treaty, it has to be said," said Mr Miliband.

"I think the important thing about the agreement we now seek in December is that while it may be a political agreement it must lead, on a very clear timetable, to a legally binding treaty.

"Also, I'll be completely clear about this: I think an agreement without numbers is not a great agreement. In fact it's a wholly inadequate⁸（不充分的，不适当的） agreement."

It remains⁹ unclear whether the US could put numbers forward in Copenhagen - on reducing emissions¹⁰, or on financing for poorer countries - in the absence of domestic legislation.

Several EU delegates（代表） to the preparatory talks here in Barcelona - at the final round before the Copenhagen summit - say that the complexity¹¹ of the treaty means that drawing up all the legal ingredients（作料，材料） is just too big a task to be finalised this year.

But South Africa's Alf Wills, who co-ordinates the G77/China bloc¹² of developing countries on extending the Kyoto Protocol¹³, suggested the real hurdle¹⁴ was political rather than logistical.

"We've got text - what we don't have is agreement on which parts of the text are the way to go," he told BBC News.