Nations meet on climate change

THE UN’s top climate official said yesterday she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on whether industrial countries should make further commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Amid fresh warnings of climate-related disasters in the future, delegates from about 190 countries were gathering in Durban, South Africa, for a two-week conference beginning today. They hope to break deadlocks on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Christiana Figueres, head of the UN climate secretariat, said the stakes for the negotiations are high, underscored by new scientific studies.