‘LIMITED PROGRESS’ MADE AT LATEST ROUND CLIMATE TALKS, SAYS TOP UN OFFICIAL

Only "limited progress" has been made at the most recent United Nations climate change talks – which are expected to culminate later this year in Copenhagen with a new pact on slashing greenhouse gas emissions – a senior United Nations official said today.

With only two more conferences, totalling 15 days, scheduled before the start of the critical event in the Danish capital, "negotiations will need to considerably pick up speed for the world to achieve a successful result at Copenhagen," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The new treaty set to be agreed on in Denmark in December will replace the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

Some strides were made regarding the negotiating text at the week-long meeting in Bonn, Germany, that wrapped up today, with countries also discussing how to translate mid-term reduction pledges (for the year 2020) by wealthier nations into legally-binding targets as part of the deal to be clinched in Copenhagen.

"Industrialized countries need to show a greater level of ambition in agreeing to meaningful mid-term emission reduction targets," Mr. de Boer said. "The present level of ambition can be raised domestically and by making use of international cooperation."

He also called for a "clear indication" from these nations on the levels of financing and technology they will provide to help their developing counterparts 'green' their growth and adapt to the impacts of global warming.

The next session of negotiations will start in Bangkok, Thailand, on 28 September, followed by another round in Barcelona, Spain, in November.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has long made climate change a top priority, will convene what is expected to be the largest-ever gathering of heads of State and government on climate change in New York on 22 September. That gathering seeks to build momentum ahead of the Copenhagen talks.
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LATEST ROUND OF UN CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS KICK OFF

With 118 days left until the start of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, where nations are aiming to conclude a new pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the latest round of talks has started today in Bonn, Germany.

During the five-day gathering – the third of six meetings ahead of the event in the Danish capital in December – some 2,000 participants are expected to make further progress on the negotiating text.

"We are at an exciting point in the negotiations which can lead us to the turning point in the fight against climate change in Copenhagen," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

That body, with 192 Parties, is the parent treaty of the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period for reducing gas emissions ends in 2012.

In the run-up to the Copenhagen meeting, two more rounds of meetings will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in October and Barcelona, Spain, in November.

In September, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will host the largest ever gathering of leaders on the issue of climate change at UN Headquarters in New York.

More than 100 heads of State and government are expected to attend the meeting, which seeks to build moment ahead of the Copenhagen talks.

"Two years ago, only a few leaders could speak to these issues," Mr. Ban, who will visit the Arctic ice brim to raise awareness of global warming, told reporters last month. "Today, leaders are walking the road to Copenhagen together. But, we have less than five months to seal a deal."
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BAN URGES COUNTRIES TO ‘SEAL THE DEAL’ ON NEW CLIMATE CHANGE PACT

The September summit on climate change in New York will be the largest ever gathering of leaders on the issue, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he urged United Nations Member States to "seal the deal" on a new global pact for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before the end of the year.

Speaking to journalists at his monthly press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Ban said more than 100 heads of State and government are expected to attend the September summit, which is being held to build momentum ahead of December's international climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Two years ago, only a few leaders could speak to these issues," he said. "Today, leaders are walking the road to Copenhagen together. But, we have less than five months to seal a deal."
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France, Germany Urge More Flexible Climate Pact.

"France and Germany suggested on Monday that rich nations should collectively guarantee deep cuts in greenhouse gases by 2020 while giving flexibility to laggards such as the US to catch up later. ...

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told a news conference on the first day of the two-day talks among ministers, called by US President Barack Obama to help work out a new climate treaty. He said France and Germany reckoned that developed nations could collectively sign up to cut their overall emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 ...

Countries which have said they cannot reach such deep 2020 goals, led by the US, could contribute to a new pact in other ways, for instance via a bigger share of financing or green technologies for developing nations, Borloo said. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

Deutsche Welle reports that "...German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, however, that developing countries were also still not ready to commit to decreasing carbon emissions. 'The longer it takes for industrialized nations to have a common position, the longer we will have to wait until China and India move (on climate change),' he said in Paris. ...

'The world's destiny will probably be at stake in Copenhagen,' Borloo said. 'Copenhagen is not a retrograde vision, it's not the start of negative (economic) growth, but a new start for strong, sustainable, sober carbon development.' ..." [Deutsche Welle (Germany)/Factiva]

In a separate piece, Reuters notes that "Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be needed to help poor nations curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change under a new UN treaty, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

'Everybody agreed that additional money is needed and without money an agreement in Copenhagen will not be possible,' Dimas told Reuters after the first day of a two-day meeting of 17 major greenhouse gas emitters in Paris on Monday. ...

The EU will debate climate finances at a summit on June 18-19 after delays partly caused by recession that has hit state coffers. EU leaders have previously agreed to contribute their fair share to developing nations, Dimas said.

Asked how much cash he reckoned was needed to help curb emissions, Dimas noted a European Commission document in January quoted independent researchers' estimates of net global incremental investments of EUR 175 billion ($245 billion) by 2020. Half of that total would be needed in developing nations. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]