CANCÚN, Mexico — Delegates from almost 200 nations worked Thursday to clear away a host of disputes and take small steps forward in easing the impacts of climate change, at a conference whose limited goals drew an accusation of “ecocide” from Bolivia’s president.
Once again this year, as they near an end, the annual negotiations under the U.N. climate treaty will not produce an overarching, legally binding deal to slash emissions of global-warming gases. From the start, the talks focused instead on secondary areas, including setting up a “green fund” to help poorer countries cope with global warming.
But in that and in a half-dozen other areas, as they approached today’s final gavel, world environment ministers and other delegates still haggled over the wording of texts. Environmentalists accused the U.S. of holding the green fund hostage until it is satisfied on other items.
