Miliband indicated that December's meeting, being convened to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, could be the precursor to a legally binding treaty, rather than yielding one itself.

Hopes of an accord has faded in recent days -- among other warnings, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday it was "obvious" a "full-fledged binding treaty, Kyoto-type" could not be completed in Copenhagen.

During a debate on preparations for Copenhagen in the House of Commons, Miliband told lawmakers: "The UN negotiations are moving too slowly and not going well."

He said that there was a "history of mistrust" between developed and developing nations and countries were "stuck in entrenched positions".

"I think the important thing about the agreement we now seek in December is that while it may be a political agreement it must lead, on a very clear timetable, to a legally binding treaty," Miliband added.

"So, in other words, in December we must set the terms of the movement to a legally binding treaty because that seems to me to be very, very important."

Negotiators from more than 190 countries are meeting in Barcelona this week for a final round of talks before the December 7-18 conference in Denmark.

The aim is to craft a new pact on climate change beyond 2012 but the negotiations are mired in discord over how to apportion carbon emission cuts and finance a switch to lower-pollution technology.

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