BANGKOK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Kyoto climate debate talks in Bangkok are revealing deep rifts among the 4,000 climate negotiators struggling to edit the 180-page text down to 35 pages.
The Bangkok Post reported Tuesday that discord is growing among the representatives as to whether such an edit is possible or whether the Kyoto pact should be dismantled prior to the upcoming climate change summit to be held in Copenhagen in December. Many industrialized nations, led by the United States, which has yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, want the existing treaty to be replaced by a completely new agreement.
Many rich and developed countries want the treaty to be replaced by a brand new agreement. The United States is also advocating a new market mechanism for carbon trading, a measure opposed by many nations.
China's top climate negotiator and a leading voice for the Group of 77 Yu Qingtai bluntly told journalists, "We are facing a challenge from Annex I countries whose statements at the Bangkok talks suggest the killing of the Kyoto Protocol."
