Marathon UN climate talks have ended with a slim compromise that sparked widespread disappointment, after major polluters resisted calls for ramping up efforts to keep global warming at bay and negotiators postponed debate about rules for international carbon markets for another year. Organisers kept delegates from almost 200 nations in Madrid far beyond Friday's scheduled close of the two-week talks. Marathon international climate talks ended with negotiators postponing until next year a key decision on how to regulate global carbon marketsIn the end, negotiators endorsed a general call for greater efforts to tackle climate change and several measures to help poor countries respond and adapt to its impacts. The final declaration cited an "urgent need" to cut planet-heating greenhouse gases in line with the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris climate change accord. The talks in Spain took place against a backdrop of growing worldwide concern about climate change.

Source: Stuff December 15, 2019 23:03 UTC