NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Delegates at a U.N. climate conference in Kenya were unable set a deadline for an agreement on new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emission.
The delay could create a greenhouse gas emission limbo after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol ends, NewScientist.com said. Conference attendees said economic considerations for tackling climate change, such as carbon trading, could fall through without a firm timetable.
The delegates' inability to agree on a deadline drew criticism from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said, "The Nairobi conference must send a clear, credible signal that the world's political leaders take climate change seriously."
Some delegates said the conference was early in the negotiations cycle, too soon to expect a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which concerns greenhouse gas emissions.
Delegates agreed to begin scientific assessments of technology that captures and buries carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Britain and Norway are tracking a method for burying liquefied gas in old oilfields beneath the North Sea, NewScientist.com said. Also approved was an initiative by Brazil and Papua New Guinea for assessing the potential of rewarding developing countries acting to stop deforestation.
The conference established a fund to help poor African countries address climate change.
