Listen to voices of vulnerable nations - Key

Prime Minister John Key's speech at the United Nations climate change talks has earned qualified praise.

Delivering New Zealand's statement at the Copenhagen talks yesterday, Key urged the world's major economies to listen to the voices of vulnerable nations.

His language contrasted sharply to that used this week by Associate Climate Change Minister Tim Groser, who accused developing countries of "extremist procedural tactics".

Greenpeace executive director Bunny McDiarmid said Key's speech hinted at leadership.

"This is a sign that he is starting to listen to public opinion back home and grasp the seriousness of the climate crisis," she said.

"He now needs to back his pledge and commit to a 40 per cent [greenhouse gas emissions reduction] target by 2020 and urge other countries to join him in raising their targets too.

"It's clear without this kind of bold move, our future is extremely bleak."

She said it was time for Key to wrest control of what had been a bad week for New Zealand at the talks.

She criticised ministers for "bashing" vulnerable island states.

Key said in his speech that progress on a climate deal would take "commitment, compromise and cash".

He said it was "sobering" to reach the second-last scheduled day of the conference without progress on the major issues.

The system of limited participation under the Kyoto Protocol had to be moved to one of "comprehensive global coverage".

"At this conference we need leadership from the major economies. They need to listen to the voices of vulnerable nations that are facing the harsh realities of climate change," he said.

"For New Zealand, we are acutely aware of the challenge climate change poses for our Pacific Island neighbours."

Key later attended a royal dinner for heads of state at Christiansborg Castle.

The arrival of United States President Barack Obama today was expected to inject some enthusiasm into the talks.

Progress seemed to be made at the political level yesterday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw US support behind a US$100 billion (NZ$140.74b) global climate change fund from 2020, while Chinese officials appeared to make concessions on verification of emissions cuts.

The talks were rocked by a leaked UN document that said the world would warm by about 3 degrees Celsius this century if emissions cuts proposed at Copenhagen were adopted.

Scientists say temperature rise should be kept to 2C to avoid catastrophic climate change effects.

- © Fairfax NZ News