Agenda Spat at UN Climate Talks as Top Official Sees Chance to Ask 'Difficult Questions' in Dubai
U.S. News & World Report BERLIN (AP) Nations resumed talks on tackling global warming Monday with the aim of shaping a deal that might put the world on track to prevent a dangerous increase in temperatures, as the U.N.'s top climate official called for deep cuts in fossil fuel use.
Diplomats began two-week negotiations in Bonn, Germany, despite failing to agree on a formal agenda because of differences on the topic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The issue lies at the heart of the climate problem, since burning oil, coal and gas is responsible for most warming that's occurred since preindustrial times.
Simon Stiell, who heads the U.N. climate office, told The Associated Press in an interview over the weekend that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) will require a phaseout of fossil fuels, something many oil-producing countries have pushed back on.
Environmental campaigners have lamented that this year's U.N. climate summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates, a major fossil fuel exporter, and presided over by the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The host nation has pushed back against this criticism.
