However, where governments were failing to act, many businesses were showing the way, Mr de Boer said.
"This is a critical (conference)," he said, speaking at a joint function hosted by KPMG and the Fair Trade Foundation.
"The process has been dragging for some time."
A key question will be the future of the Kyoto Protocol and whether countries will sign up to a second commitment period, or allow it to become an empty shell after next year.
Mr de Boer, a special adviser to KPMG, was executive secretary of the framework convention, which oversees the negotiations, until he stepped down last year.
The position is now filled by Christiana Figueres.
Mr de Boer is a veteran of such talks, having attended a total of 16 Conferences of the Parties.
"What I find encouraging is that there is a growing realisation that the world has outgrown the Kyoto Protocol as the only legal instrument to address climate change," he said. Read the full report here.
Source: Jocelyn Newmarch, Business Day.
