The Copenhagen climate change conference will not produce a new international treaty, the top United Nations climate change official has said, but the meeting will set out the political framework for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

“A fully fledged new international treaty under the [UN Framework] Convention [on Climate Change] – I do not think that is going to happen,” Yvo de Boer, charged with bringing December’s negotiations to a successful conclusion, said in an interview with the Financial Times. “If you look at the limited amount of time remaining to Copenhagen, it’s clear.”