The United Nations Climate Change Conference opened in Bali, Indonesia, on December 3 and is due to close Friday. About 11,000 delegates from almost 200 countries, as well a range of international organizations, have taken part in the conference, which is aiming to draw up a new international pact to combat global warming.
One of the main differences is a dispute between the European Union, which is proposing that industrially developed states reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 by 25-40%, and the U.S., which disagrees with the figures and wants a voluntary agreement, rather than legally binding targets.
The head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, said Friday differences are still big and could require more time than planned. "There are intensive negotiations going on," he said.
The Kyoto Protocol obliges the 35 industrial states that have ratified the document to cut emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. Developed and developing countries have been locked in a dispute over who should bear the main burden for carbon emission restrictions.
