Delegates met behind closed doors for a two-day global climate change conference in Hawaii, but were not expected to make major progress on setting limits for greenhouse gases.
Yvo de Boer, UN climate chief, said participants -- which include the US and China -- would likely use the opportunity to take stock of last month's talks in Bali, where nations agreed to adopt a blueprint for reducing greenhouse emissions by next year.
Germany, Japan and the UN were also among those with delegates in the meeting at the East-West Center which was to end yesterday.
Delegates, including top environmental officials reporting directly to presidents and prime ministers, aren't expected to make much progress outlining mandatory limits on the gases.
That's in part because the gathering that began on Wednesday is only scheduled to last two days.
It's also because the host of the Hawaii meeting, the US, has objected to mandatory cuts proposed by the EU for industrialized nations. Washington has said the reductions would slice too deep, too fast.
Even so, delegates said they expect to use their time in the islands to discuss in greater detail some of the ways countries -- both industrialized and developing -- can reduce their emissions.
Among the issues being discussed is how developing nations may acquire the technology to burn coal more efficiently. Or capture and store carbon emissions in huge underground containers. Delegates were also expected to discuss how to help developing countries prevent deforestation.
Jim Connaughton, the chief US delegate and White House environmental chief, said he hoped participants would reach an understanding on how industries, or different sectors, might reduce their emissions. This would complement national efforts, he said.
"Don't know yet. We have to now begin to outline these outcomes, but there's a lot of enthusiasm here for the discussion," Connaughton told reporters after the first day of talks.
Down the hill from the meeting on Wednesday, environmental activists drew a line along seven city blocks showing where ocean levels would likely rise to in the next 50 to 100 years if global temperatures continue to climb.
Alexa Hettwer, 16, said her neighborhood and her school were among the areas expected to be flooded.
"This really brings it home," she said of the chalking exercise. "I didn't realize everything I knew would be underwater."
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS