African nations return to climate talks in Spain

• Source: Global Times
• [14:31 November 04 2009]
• Comments

About 50 African nations agreed to return to the UN climate talks on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. The United Nations climate talks are currently underway in Barcelona, Spain.

The talks aim to renew the Kyoto Protocol accord and make all negotiating parties to come to terms with emissions targets.

African countries had boycotted the talks to protest rich nations' reluctance to make substantial carbon-cutting commitments. Led by Algeria, the African parties rejected negotiations on topics such as carbon offset and new ways to measure gases.

They called for the 27-nation European Union (EU), Australia, Canada and other industrialized countries to cut their emissions by at least 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

"We are going around and around in circles on technical issues rather than the core issue," Alfred Wills, South Africa's leading negotiator, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

The US is still waiting for proposed climate laws to pass through Congress before putting a pledge at the second round of UN talks.

Australia promised a 25 percent emission cut from the year 2000 levels, which, according to Wills, was far from enough.

The EU pledged to reduce 20 percent emissions in the time frame of the Kyoto Protocol and make it a 30 percent cut if all the parties can come up with a global deal.