Climate Talks Yield Commitment to Ambitious, but Unclear, Actions

Climate Talks Yield Commitment to Ambitious, but Unclear, Actions

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The annual United Nations climate change negotiations concluded in Doha after the customary all-night negotiating session and recriminations over who must bear the costs and burdens of a warming planet. Delegates from more than 190 nations agreed to extend the increasingly ineffective Kyoto Protocol a few years and to commit to more ambitious — but unspecified — actions to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases.

Wealthy nations put off for a year resolution of the dispute over providing billions of dollars in aid to countries most heavily affected by climate change. Industrial nations have pledged to secure $100 billion a year by 2020 in public and private financing to help poor countries cope with climate change, but have been vague about what they plan to do before then. Only a handful of countries, not including the United States, have made concrete financial pledges for adaptation aid over the next few years.