国际英语新闻：UN climate talks resumed

BONN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The second round of UN climate talks in 2010 started here Monday, focusing on issues unresolved in Copenhagen and aiming to pave the way for the Cancun meeting in Mexico in December.

The Bonn gathering is being attended by more than 4,500 participants from governments, businesses and industries, environmental organizations and research institutions in about 180 countries.

The session is the first opportunity for parties to engage in serious and substantive talks since last December's contentious Copenhagen conference. It focuses on a draft text for discussions at the Cancun meeting.

However, it has become apparent from the start of the latest talks the gap between developed countries and developing countries remains, casting a shadow over what will be achieved here.

In April, the chair of the working group on long-term cooperative action (AWG-LCA), Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe from Zimbabwe, was asked to produce a new text to facilitate discussions. However, the new text was rejected by participants on the first day of the negotiations here.

The United States said it did not think the new text was intended as a basis for negotiations, while South Africa said the document put too much burden on developing countries.

"Our view is that the text is Margaret's effort to elicit views so she can develop a formal negotiating text," said Jonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation. "It's a constructive next step."

Chief South African delegate Alf Wills said the document was "completely unbalanced." There is a whole chapter urging the South instead of the North to cut emissions.

Rene Gonzalo Orellana Halkyer, a member of the Bolivian delegation, said Bolivia was not satisfied with targets in the new text and believed more serious targets were needed.

A revised text would be published by Saturday, delaying negotiations, delegates said.

A meeting focusing on emissions reduction commitments from 37 industrialized countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol will start Tuesday.

"I encourage governments to now develop greater clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, since this issue cannot be left unattended until Cancun," outgoing UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said Monday. The remarks represented a counterattack against moves from some industrialized countries that want to abandon the Kyoto Protocol and rewrite the Bali Road Map.

De Boer urged developed countries to make more concrete contributions to build trust among participants in a bid to bring developed and developing countries closer to an agreement.

"Cancun can deliver if promises of help are kept and if promises to compromise are honored in the negotiations," he said.

He also reurged developed countries to fulfill their Copenhagen promise of raising 30 billion U.S. dollars to help developing countries cope with climate change.

"Recent pledges by Spain and Germany toward the adaptation fund have been useful first steps to build trust among developing nations," de Boer said. "But we must see more concrete contributions from other countries in the run-up to Cancun which show that developed countries are ready to deliver on what they promised five months ago in Copenhagen," he said.