"Kyoto II" climate talks open in Bangkok

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The first formal talks in the long process of drawing up a replacement for the Kyoto climate change pact opened in Thailand on Monday with appeals to a common human purpose to defeat global warming.

"The world is waiting for a solution that is long term and economically viable," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said in a video address to the 1,100 delegates from 163 nations gathered in Bangkok.

The week-long meeting stems from a breakthrough agreement in Bali last year to start negotiations to replace Kyoto, which only binds 37 rich nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of five percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

U.N. climate experts want the new pact to impose curbs on all countries, although there is wide disagreement about how to share the burden between rich nations, led by the United States, and developing countries such as China and India.

It will also be crucial to work out how big industries, such as power generators, airlines and steelmakers will play their part in tackling rising emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.

The United Nations climate panel says it is crucial for greenhouse gas emissions to peak in the next 10-15 years and then fall sharply if the world is to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

No major decisions are likely from the Bangkok talks, which are intended mainly to establish a timetable for more talks culminating in a United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen at the end of next year. Delegates said Monday's talks would be merely procedural.

"We see this as very much a process-oriented meeting," chief U.S. climate negotiator Harlan Watson told reporters before the opening ceremony.