Climate talks resume after Durban

File picture of the Arctic, which is melting at an alarming rate. Image by: STAFF / Reuters

Long-running arguments over who needs to do what to stop the planet from overheating are back in focus this week.

Rich and poor countries have met in Bonn, Germany, to resume talks on a new global climate treaty.

It's the first major round of talks since countries agreed in Durban, South Africa, in December to come up with a binding agreement by 2015 that would take effect five years later.

In a webcast news conference Monday, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres noted that the cuts in greenhouse emissions pledged so far fall short of what scientists say is needed to avoid serious effects of global warming.

The talks have been hampered by bickering over how to divide such cuts among developing nations, emerging economies and industrialized countries.

- Times Live