BALI: Governments wrangled over the shape of future climate change negotiations on Thursday after the US rejected demands to consider ambitious gas emissions caps in any deal at UN talks aimed at staving off global warming. As the two-week conference entered its final days, environmental groups and US senators accused Washington of trying to scupper efforts to come up with a bold agreement on future negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. The United States is rejecting demands by the European Union and developing nations that the ‘Bali roadmap’ mention guidelines for future cuts for emissions of global warming gases by between 25 per cent and 40 per cent by 2020. Other sticking points include demands by developing countries they be given assurances of financial assistance and access to expensive technology to help them transition to cleaner economies. ‘At this critical time, we can’t afford to have the (US) administration muddying the waters and blocking reasonable targets from being established,’ said US Sen. John Kerry in a statement. ‘The United States needs instead to make it clear we are prepared to lead again.’ Delegates and observers said the tenor of the […]

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