The two-week UN climate change conference here ended Saturday in anticlimax, only "taking note" of the Copenhagen Accord.

The accord, which was highly expected to lead to a legally binding treaty, aroused opposition from several developing countries, who said the emissions reduction targets were not ambitious enough and refused to adopt it.

However, the accord now is open for signing.

Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change said at his closing press briefing that the conference not only failed his hope of achieving a legally binding treaty, but also failed the hope of an agreement for such a treaty.

But he still believed countries should strive for such goals in the next UN climate conference in Mexico in 2010.

The accord was facing failure early Saturday morning, despite all-night discussions and debates. Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and other officials managed to present a new document, but "take note" of the Copenhagen Accord.

However, some countries remained opposed to the new document and debates carried on till the afternoon. Finally, it was decided to make it an open document, which would be signed by those countries who want to adopt it.

The accord said the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius, and developed countries should commit to a goal of mobilizing jointly 100 billion U.S. dollars a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.

Ban said this was a real deal and urged countries to translate the document into a legally binding treaty as soon as possible in 2010.

The conference was originally scheduled to end on Friday, when more than 100 state leaders gathered in Copenhagen to try to reach a legally binding agreement.

The failure to reach a binding agreement has raised concerns among many people about the world's capacity to cooperate in addressing the common challenge of climate change.

But there is still hope for the signing of a legally binding agreement in the not-too-distant future.

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