UNITED NATIONS, May (IPS) - With exactly 200 days to go before December’s crucial climate talks in Copenhagen, progress is steadily, though slowly, being made. Some issues, however-namely financing and the relative roles of industrial and developing countries - are likely to remain on the table until the end of the year.

"There is a constructive atmosphere in the negotiations and I’m very encouraged," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), in a press conference at UN headquarters last week.