UN climate talks at Bonn, from 10-14 August, turned out to be a bust on progress towards a meaningful climate treaty at Copenhagen. A doleful selection of quotes gives the flavour of meeting reactions:

“If we don’t have more movement and more consensus than we saw here, we won’t have an agreement.”

Jonathan Pershing, US lead climate negotiator [New York Times].

“The best likely outcome in Copenhagen may be an interim agreement nailing down the basic architecture.”

Elliot Diringer, vice-president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Washington [AFP].

“My fear is that we sign another agreement that doesn’t have any teeth … we may just get another document that environment ministers nod and say is a great thing, but it doesn’t actually practically achieve much.”

Kevin Conrad, delegate from Papua New Guinea [Bloomberg].

"If we continue at this rate, we’re not going to make it. IIt would be incomprehensible if this opportunity were lost.”

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [AP].

de Boer also pointed out that there were only 15 negotiating days to Copenhagen. “We seem to be afloat on a sea of brackets,” he said, referring to the bracketed statements in the negotiating text indicating areas of disagreement [New York Times].

Get your skates on, negotiators! Next up, it’s Bangkok from 28 September.