Climate Change

UN members set work schedule for climate change pact

Article published on the 2008-12-13 Latest update 2008-12-13 15:16 TU

A delegate from the Cook Islands (c) listens to speeches during the conference
(Credit: Reuters)

A United Nations 192-member climate change group hammered out a work schedule at its meeting in Poznan, Poland that will lead to a treaty curbing greenhouse gases to be penned in 2009. The deal, which will will take effect in 2012, sets out measures designed to reduce emissions, and help developing countries that are exposed to climate change. The work schedule was drawn up after pre-dawn intense negotiation on Saturday.

Members of the group will submit proposals in the early months of 2009, which will be sifted through and condensed into a document to base the negotiations on in June.

"We are now moving into a negotiating mode and it's going to be a very heavy agenda. But as in any marathon, you need to do some really fast running at the end not at the beginning," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the group.

The two major points of contention include who should make the biggest sacrifices for curbing greenhouse gases, and how to bolster support for poor countries exposed to climate change.

Brazil, India and other emerging countries were disappointed at the lack of a financial mechanism to help countries combat climate change. Analysts fear that billions of euros will be needed in the coming years in order to cobat the problem in poorer countries.

This programme of work comes as the so-called 20-20-20 deal was agreed during the EU summit in Brussels on Friday.