The United Nations' chief climate negotiator called for "flexibility" and "a spirit of compromise" to reach a balanced outcome at climate talks this week in China.

Some 3,100 delegates from 177 parties under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change have gathered in the port city of Tianjin, the final meeting prior to the U.N. climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico, in November and December.

They face the challenge of paring down some 70 pages of negotiating text, including 1,630 specific terms and targets under dispute, that nations will debate at Cancun.

In Monday's opening session, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres called on delegates to "accelerate the search for common ground" so Cancun can make progress toward securing a global treaty to tackle global warming.

"As governments, you can continue to stand still or move forward. Now is the time to make that choice," she said.

The meeting is likely to last until Saturday.

Delegates from around the world met last December in Copenhagen, Denmark, to draft a treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol but failed to reach a comprehensive global agreement.

The interim agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, included establishing a "fast start" fund to provide $30 billion from 2010-12 for assistance to developing countries in addressing climate change.

But details about where the funds will come from and how it will be allocated are still not resolved.

China warned that demands on developing countries could undermine the talks.

"Unreasonable requirements that press big developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa, to reduce emissions also will undermine the smooth proceeding of the talks," state-run Xinhua news agency said in an editorial Sunday.

Figueres admitted Monday that while the agreements reached in Cancun may not be exhaustive in details, but as a balanced package they must be "comprehensive" in scope and deliver strong results in the short term and "set the stage" for long-term commitments to address climate change.

"It's vital that progress is made in Tianjin on two main areas — new public money for developing countries and rich countries agreeing (on) tough new emissions cuts under the Kyoto Protocol," said Asad Rehman, spokesman for Friends of the Earth, in a statement.

"A summer of climate-related disasters — and the recent release of research from the Institute of Physics which shows we're on track for a 4.2-degree rise in global temperatures — shows how vital international action to tackle the problem really is," Rehman said.

earlier related report

Mexico seeks to lower expectations for Cancun climate summit
Mexico City (AFP) Oct 4, 2010 –

Mexico's environment minister on Monday warned against excessive optimism ahead of a key UN climate summit here in December, as gridlocked international climate talks reopened in China.

"There was overwhelming optimism in Copenhagen. There was a belief that they would resolve all the world's problems and they didn't manage it," Juan Elvira Quesada said, referring to a UN summit in Denmark last year which failed to reach a binding deal on global cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Quesada sought to lessen expectations for the Mexico summit — in Cancun from November 29 to December 10 — but concentrate on "realistic and ambitious solutions," he said, speaking at a meeting of business leaders in Mexico City.

Following frustrations expressed in Copenhagen, Mexico aimed to allow everyone to participate, including members of the private sector, Quesada said.

Georg Kell, director of Global Compact, a UN partnership with the business world, warned against expecting a solution in only one meeting, and urged for the search for a deal to continue.

Six days of climate talks opened Monday in Tianjin, China, as part of the long-running efforts through the United Nations to secure a post-2012 treaty to limit global warming and avoid potential environmental catastrophes.

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