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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the so-called Bali Road Map as a "pivotal first step" towards a new agreement for tackling the peril of climate change, after he had appealed to delegates to show flexibility.

Following gruelling all-night talks the conference launched a process to negotiate a new treaty that will take effect when the UN Kyoto Protocol's commitments expire in 2012.

The deal comes after a year of stark warnings from Nobel-winning scientists, who say that millions of people will be at risk of hunger, homelessness and disease by 2100 if temperatures keep rising at current rates.

The US, the only major industrial nation to reject the Kyoto treaty, reached a compromise with the European Union (EU) to avoid mentioning any figures as a target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

In a bid to break the deadlock, the proposed document ditched European calls for an  "ambition" of the rich world to cut its emissions by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 from 1990

levels.

And there was no mention of a target of halving global levels of greenhouse gases by 2050 - a goal that scientists say is essential to limiting the warming to around 2 degrees Celsius.

The agreement instead only makes an indirect reference to scientists' warnings that the world must sharply cut back emissions to prevent what could be a catastrophic rise in temperatures.

But on an unscheduled 13th day of talks, the US said it would not accept the statement as it wanted developing countries such as fast-growing China to make tougher commitments.

Senior US negotiator Paula Dobriansky said she had heard "many strong statements from many major developing country leaders on a greater role in helping to address urgently this global problem".

It "doesn't seem it's going to be reflected in our outcome here in the declaration", she said,

telling the conference that the US would reject the draft.

Dobriansky was loudly booed by other delegations. A US environmental activist representing Papua New Guinea said on the floor to rousing cheers: "If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way."

After repeated verbal lashings, Dobriansky again took the microphone and said that Washington would "go forward and join consensus", to the cheers of the conference.

Hans Verolme of conservation group WWF accused the world of bowing to US pressure and removing a scientific punch needed to fight global warming.

But he also said the Bali talks would inspire environmentalists and activist nations for climate-change negotiations.

Photo AFP

Vocabulary

to back down, v: to stop contradicting or opposing someone

last-ditch, adj: done at the last possible moment

to appeal, v: to ask for help or support

gruelling, adj: exhausting, tiring

to slash, v: to cut; to reduce

deadlock, n: state in which progress is impossible

to ditch, v: to ignore; to disregard; to abandon

to boo, v: to make a noise that shows disapproval

lashing, n: exclamation of strong disapproval

to inspire, v: to give ideas, hope or feelings

Questions

1. How many countries were represented at the conference?

a. 25

b. 40

c. 190

d. 2009

2. Where was the conference held?

a. Bali

b. Kyoto

c. Papua

d. Ban Ki-moon

3. When will the new treaty take effect?

a. 2009

b. 2012

c. 2020

d. 2100

4. How many degrees Celsius global warming do scientists believe to be tolerable?

a. 0

b. 2

c. 25

d. 40

5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an effect of global warming by 2100?

a. hunger

b. disease

c. earthquakes

d. homelessness

Synonyms

Which of the following words or phrases replace the ones from the passage best?

1. pact

a. quarrel

b. argument

c. agreement

d. misunderstanding

2. isolated

a. lone

b. righteous

c. dominant

d. persistent

3. pivotal

a. new

b. concious

c. unknown

d. important

4. peril

a. aim

b. kick

c. cause

d. danger

5. stark

a. old

b. grim

c. renewed

d. relentless

KEY

Questions          1. c, 2. a, 3. b, 4. b, 5. c

Synonyms          1. c, 2. a, 3. d, 4. d, 5. b

By Ajarn Horst Baelz