China hosts climate talks

TIANJIN, China, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The United Nations' chief climate negotiator called for "flexibility" and "a spirit of compromise" to reach a balanced outcome at climate talks this week in China.

Some 3,100 delegates from 177 parties under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change have gathered in the port city of Tianjin, the final meeting prior to the U.N. climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico, in November and December.

They face the challenge of paring down some 70 pages of negotiating text, including 1,630 specific terms and targets under dispute, that nations will debate at Cancun.

In Monday's opening session, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres called on delegates to "accelerate the search for common ground" so Cancun can make progress toward securing a global treaty to tackle global warming.

"As governments, you can continue to stand still or move forward. Now is the time to make that choice," she said.

The meeting is likely to last until Saturday.

Delegates from around the world met last December in Copenhagen, Denmark, to draft a treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol but failed to reach a comprehensive global agreement.

The interim agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, included establishing a "fast start" fund to provide $30 billion from 2010-12 for assistance to developing countries in addressing climate change.

But details about where the funds will come from and how it will be allocated are still not resolved.

China warned that demands on developing countries could undermine the talks.

"Unreasonable requirements that press big developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa, to reduce emissions also will undermine the smooth proceeding of the talks," state-run Xinhua news agency said in an editorial Sunday.

Figueres admitted Monday that while the agreements reached in Cancun may not be exhaustive in details, but as a balanced package they must be "comprehensive" in scope and deliver strong results in the short term and "set the stage" for long-term commitments to address climate change.

"It's vital that progress is made in Tianjin on two main areas -- new public money for developing countries and rich countries agreeing (on) tough new emissions cuts under the Kyoto Protocol," said Asad Rehman, spokesman for Friends of the Earth, in a statement.

"A summer of climate-related disasters -- and the recent release of research from the Institute of Physics which shows we're on track for a 4.2-degree rise in global temperatures -- shows how vital international action to tackle the problem really is," Rehman said.