KOBE, Japan — The world is losing momentum in the battle against global warming, the U.N. climate chief warned Saturday.
Environmental ministers are gathered in the Japanese city of Kobe for a three-day meeting. 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 G8 summit in Japan in July.
U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer told The Associated Press on the sidelines that he was concerned about stalling momentum behind international talks to forge a global warming pact by December 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. Its first phase ends in 2012.
“Much of the enthusiasm and ambition that we saw in Bali with the launch of negotiations doesn’t seem to be present,” he said, referring to a meeting on the Indonesian resort island in December, when about 190 countries decided on a timetable for talks on the new climate pact.
