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Emissions cap for poor is thought unlikely at Bali

The chance that developing countries would accept firm emissions-cutting targets receded on Friday, as UN-led talks to launch negotiations on a climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol inched forward in Bali, Reuters reported.

"Binding commitments for developing countries are not off the table but are crawling towards the edge," said Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, of the possibility that developing nations would agree to join many rich nations in capping greenhouse gas emissions.

About a dozen trade ministers are to meet in Bali at the weekend and finance ministers from Monday — their first-ever visit to the annual UN climate meeting — to help spur a booming global "green" economy.

Delegates must find words equally palatable to rich countries such as the United States and Japan, which want developing nations to fight climate change harder, and developing ones such as China and India, which want access to cleaner technologies.

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