UN climate chief calls for increased momentum in global warming pact talks

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The world is losing momentum in the battle against global warming, the UN climate chief warned on Saturday, and he urged environment ministers from wealthy nations to revive the effort by setting clear targets for reducing greenhouse gases. The ministers gathered in the western Japanese city of Kobe for a three-day meeting as evidence mounted that rising world temperatures have been taking a toll on the earth at a faster rate than previously forecast. The officials from the Group of Eight countries, joined by representatives from other countries including China and other organizations, were to lay the foundations for the upcoming G8 summit in northern Japan in July. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer told the Associated Press on the sidelines that he was concerned about the stalling momentum behind international talks to forge a global warming pact by December 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first phase ends in 2012.