A series of dramatic speeches by heads of state this morning left no doubt that a substantive climate deal at Copenhagen is impossible; parties remain miles apart on all the key issues: targets, funding, accountability and the fate of Kyoto.

Still, in hopes of salvaging the conference, negotiations are still underway on a draft text that Equitywatch first reported on this morning.

Having obtained a recent iteration of the document, we note that it now puts slightly greater emphasis on the development priorities of poor countries. Specific changes include:

(a) The agreement is to be called the Copenhagen Accord.

(b) Whereas the earlier draft was envisioned as a formal agreement among Parties to the UNFCCC, the latest version would merely be an agreement among nations present at the Copenhagen summit. This formulation signals a weaker relationship to the UNFCCC.

(c) The Copenhagen Accord does not specify a deadline for establishing a legally binding agreement under the UNFCCC and/or the Kyoto Protocol. (The earlier draft set COP16 in 2010 as a deadline).

(d) It includes a new reference to a global goal of reducing emissions by 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050, “taking into account the right to equitable access to atmospheric space”.

(e) It also includes a new commitment for Annex I countries to reduce their emissions by at least 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

(f) Earlier compromise language on the question of monitoring, reporting and verification of NAMAs appears to have been removed, pending new alternative text.

(g) A proposal for $30 billion in quick start funding to be provided to LDCs from 2010 to 2012 is now referred to more concretely as a “collective commitment by developed countries”.

(h) The fate of Kyoto remains unresolved, although the language has changed.