Time running out, warns UN as climate talks begin

The latest round of international talks to secure a new climate change deal began yesterday amid warnings that time was running out to tackle global warming.

Almost 11,000 people are attending the UN conference in Poznan, Poland, which aims to make progress on a replacement treaty to the Kyoto protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The meeting in Poland marks the halfway point in a two-year negotiating process which it is hoped will end with a new deal on climate change agreed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

As the conference kicked off, the UN’s top climate change official Yvo de Beor said: “The clock is ticking. Work needs to shift into a higher gear.”

And the conference’s president and Poland’s environment minister, Maciej Nowicki warned of the consequences of not taking action to curb emissions.

Environmentalists and aid agencies are calling on countries to make substantial progress in Poznan towards securing a deal which will slash emissions and protect the world’s poor.

A European deal is expected to be reached at the heads of state meeting next week, coinciding with the final stage of the talks in Poland.