Climate targets not met

       The Bangkok climate change talks have wrapped up with two major roadblocks - emissions cut targets for developed countries and funding schemes for developing ones - unresolved.
       Rich and poor nations also failed to settle the rift on whether the Kyoto Protocol should be terminated or extended.
       The two-week Bangkok talks were aimed at preparing the negotiating text of the new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2010. It is the second-last round of negotiations before the Copenhagen summit when country leaders hope to seal a new climate protection treaty.
       About 4,000 climate negotiators at the Bangkok talks, however, did make progress on the issues of adaptation to climate change, technology transfer,and capacity building to help poor nations cope with climate change.
       Many saw these issues as the "candies" of the climate change talks due to their uncontroversial nature.
       "Bold leadership must open the roadblocks around the essentials of targets and finance so that the negotiators can complete their journey,"said UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.
       The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Cl-
       mate Change said the world has the right to know exactly what governments will do to prevent dangerous climate change when the heads of state gather in Copenhagen.
       "It is time now to step back from self interest and let the common interest prevail," he said.
       Final statements from developed and developing country blocs on the last day of the Bangkok talks reflected the many issues that remain unresolved although there are less than 60 days left before the Copenhagen summit.
       The European Union called on countries to speed up progress and raise the level of ambition to reach a strong international climate agreement.
       The EU is seeking an ambitious,global and comprehensive binding deal in Copenhagen that builds on the Kyoto Protocol and involves all parties to the UN climate change convention, including the US, its statement said.
       "It is not killing the Kyoto Protocol.The protocol is continuing. We need a home for the Kyoto Protocol architecture in one single legal instrument.That is a key element to improve and strengthen it," Anders Turesson, chief climate negotiator for Sweden, said in his capacity as the EU representative.
       His comments followed developing countries and civil groups' allegations that rich nations, led by the US, are trying to terminate the Kyoto Protocol,the only existing global climate protection agreement.
       Artur Runge-Metzger, chief negotiator for the European Commission,said the 27-nation bloc wanted a legally binding agreement that ensures participation by both the US and advanced developing countries, including China.
       "A deal that excluded one or more major emitters would not prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels," he said.
       Meanwhile, the US delegation said although America had not been abiding by the Kyoto Protocol, it had made strenuous efforts to put in place national measures to combat climate change.
       Jonathan Pershing, head of the US delegation, said the US had offered ideas to reach a deal in Copenhagen.
       These included a fund to support means to alleviate climate change and clean technology development hubs to help developing countries cut emissions."We've also set a target to reduce greenhouse gases by 80% by the middle of this century," he said.
       Next up are five days of talks in Barcelona on Nov 2-6 before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec 7-18.