Slow progress at UN climate talks

The United Nations talks on climate change in Bangkok have come to an end with little agreement between nations other than setting the dates for further talks.

The Thailand meeting, attended by 163 member states, was set up by the UN to discuss what programme for tackling climate change will follow the end of the Kyoto Protocol, which ceases in 2012.

Disagreements between the rich world and the majority world meant that progress at the meeting was slow, with Japan accused of trying to burden the majority world with its emissions as it enters a phase of economic recovery after a period of slowdown.

However, the UN said that it was satisfied with the progress made at the Bangkok talks, with seven further meetings planned over the next 18 months, three of which will be held this year.

The UN hopes that splitting negotiations into ‘bite-sized chunks’ will be more effective.

In future talks, it is expected that the US and Japan will seek to place binding targets on the majority world that did not exist under the Kyoto agreement.

China and India are likely to strongly oppose this by arguing that it is a protectionist ploy by the rich world to prevent developing nations from achieving equal footing.

The next talks will be held in June in Bonn, Germany. The final talks, in December 2009 in Copenhagen, will be attended by delegates from all of the UN’s 189 nations.