World climate change talks kick off in Germany

The U.S. and many other countries began United Nations-sponsored discussions and negotiations about emission reduction targets in Germany today.

Most developing nations in the world want a new climate treaty, which would serve as the successor to the Kyoto Treaty, to require high emissions reduction requirements—between 25 and 40 percent—by 2020. Despite the recent changes in environmental policy by the Obama administration, negotiators from the U.S. have said that this range may be unrealistic for developed nations.

The 12-day meeting in Bonn, Germany, aims to lay some of the groundwork for the treaty that will be negotiated and hopefully signed at a conference in Copenhagen at the end of this year. The goal is to make the treaty legally binding for all that sign it, unlike the Kyoto Treaty, which was not legally binding in many regards.

For more info on this conference and the proposed climate change treaty, check out this story from Business Green.