It is understandable that the climate brokers are divided at the new round of talks in Bangkok on thrashing out a plan toward a new global pact on slashing greenhouse gas emissions and battling climate change.

No one expected the negotiations to be easy at the Bangkok gathering and conferences ahead.

Rich and poor nations now generally agree that the world must take action to halt climate change, but they are divided on how to go about it.

Some countries disagree over what role wealthy and poor countries should play in reducing emissions. And even among wealthy countries there is significant discord.

Developing countries' call to their developed counterparts to share more responsibility and reduce more gas emissions is justifiable. They are asking for more financial and technical support from the rich countries so as to use energy more efficiently.

The agreement reached in Bali in December last year called for wealthier countries to help finance cleaner-burning energy technologies and non-fossil fuel alternatives in developing countries.

The rich countries must reach consensus on how to support and compensate developing nations for their efforts in reducing global warming.

The European Union is standing behind the developing countries pushing the rich countries for aggressive reductions in greenhouse emissions. It must come up with an action plan to cut gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 compared with the 1990 levels.

The United States, the only industrial country that has never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, is hypocritical for pushing fast-developing nations to sign up to binding carbon emission cuts. It should not evade its obligation of making specific cuts in greenhouse gases.

The clock is ticking, and it should be heard by every climate broker as the deadline for reaching a new accord falls at the end of 2009. Individual countries would then need to ratify it before their current commitments under the existing Kyoto deal to cut emissions expire in 2012.

The brokers will have to put their heads together for more rounds of talks in 18 months' time, to prepare for the post-Kyoto strategy on battling climate change.

As they race against time, they should work together for a common vision.

(China Daily April 2, 2008)