By Julia Day

As December’s UN conference on climate change creeps ever closer, an exclusive story in today’s Guardian reveals that a dispute bewteen the US and Europe over treaty rules is threatening progress and weaken a deal at COP15.

The story by environment correspondent David Adam, reveals: “Differences have emerged over the structure of an international treaty on global warming.

“Sources on the European side say the US appraoch could undermine the treaty and weaken the world’s ability to cut carbon emissions.” The US, according to the Guardian’s sources, intend to replace almost all of the Kyoto architecture with a system of its own design.

Adding a note of extreme urgency to proceedings ahead of Tuesday’s climate change meeting of 100 world leaders in New York, Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general tells the Guardian “that negotiations had stalled and need to “get moving”.

Meanwhile, The Independent reports on a warning to politicians from a group of doctors that the poorest people in society will be hit first by a global health catastrophe if climate change is not effectively tackled at COP15.

Malaria, dengue fever and other tropical diseases would increase, say the doctors whose concerns were voiced in letters to The British Medical Journal and The Lancet.