UN climate talks seek to define rich, poor duties

CANCUN, Mexico, (Reuters) – Climate negotiators at  U.N. talks in Mexico yesterday struggled over proposals that  would abolish a two-decade divide between rich and poor on  scrutiny of greenhouse gas emissions.

Developed countries say fast-growing emerging economies led  by China, which has become the top carbon emitter, have to do  far more to curb their emissions. Many poor nations oppose  changing a 1992 U.N. convention that obliges the rich to lead.

“I can guarantee you that this will be a controversial  issue,” Artur Runge-Metzger, a senior European Union  negotiator, said at the Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 talks in a Caribbean  resort.

“For China, there need to be much tighter rules for  measurement, reporting and verification compared to a small  poor country,” he added, saying that EU funding detailed on  Tuesday would help pay for the poorest countries to report  their emissions.

Most countries agreed on a formula at last year’s  Copenhagen summit, under which industrialized countries would  cut their emissions and emerging economies slow growth in  greenhouse gases.

The Cancun talks have far lower ambitions than last year’s  Copenhagen summit which fell short of an all-encompassing deal  to help slow floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea  levels.

Cancun will seek agreement on a smaller package of measures  including a “green fund” to channel aid to the poor or efforts  to protect tropical forests that soak up carbon as they grow.

A main point of controversy in Cancun is how far rich and  poor countries report their pledges and whether these should be  subject to international scrutiny.

India is proposing that all major economies, developed and  developing, would report their emissions, while the rich would  also detail climate aid.

That marks a big concession by a major emerging economy and  would dilute differences between rich and poor: under the 1992  climate convention only about 40 developed countries have to  report their emissions annually.