Bianca Jagger

With time running out at the United Nations climate change conference in Bali, there's no sign of a deadlock being broken in negotiations over how the world should fight global warming.

The lack of progress, mostly due to the failure of the U-S to join in, has resulted in the European Union saying it will boycott climate talks being planned by Washington if the US doesn't compromise during the current conference in Bali.

The new Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd mentioned the United States by name at the conference yesterday, suggesting they must “get on board”.

Non-governmental observers at the conference are offering the direst predictions of disaster.

Bianca Jagger speaks for the World Future Council, and has long been known as an advocate of human rights. She gave a blunt assessment of the progress that has been made so far:

"They are playing the dangerous Russian roulette with our future. And we hear all kinds of propositions until today. Whether it is from the European Union who has said a carbon reduction of 50 percent by 2050 or even of 80 percent by 2050. It is absurd and it is irresponsible and of course it is not what we need. What I'm saying is that we need a zero-emission by 2020."