The U.N.'s top climate official says he does not expect a binding global warming agreement until the end of 2011, two years later than originally envisioned. Yvo de Boer says he hopes the next major climate conference in Mexico beginning in November will achieve what the last summit in Denmark failed to do: draw up the «operational architecture» for controlling carbon emissions and helping countries adapt to climate change. De Boer said in a conference call Wednesday he hopes the Mexico conclusions will be turned into a legal document at the next annual meeting in 2011 in South Africa. The Copenhagen conference originally was seen as a deadline for a legally binding accord, but it ended with only a vague agreement of principles and financing, according to a report of the Associated Press.
