(AP) -- The former U.N. climate chief says he doesn't expect the upcoming summit in Cancun, Mexico, to produce big results and is encouraging delegates to focus on reaching small goals rather trying to secure a major treaty.

Yvo de Boer, who stepped down as head of the U.N. Framework Convention on in July, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung published Friday that he considered a June meeting in Bonn a "step backward" that gave little hope for success in Cancun.

De Boer said climate negotiators in Cancun should focus on "small steps" toward slowing change, warning that if there is another failure such as took place in Copenhagen last year, "no one will take us seriously anymore."