This week the next two-week round of climate change talks is nearing completion in Bonn. The main task of 2,000 delegates from some 150 countries is to work on the text of a new agreement on greenhouse gas emission reductions to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

"As the UNFCCC climate talks got under way in Bonn, the two working groups began meetings: the ad hoc working group on long-term co-operative action (AWG-LCA) began with responses to the draft text and ad hoc working group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) began to discuss emissions commitments by countries covered by the Kyoto Protocol."

De Boer, who briefed journalists Tuesday about his expectations for the upcoming UN climate change negotiations, said that governments needed an open discussion about the future of the Kyoto Protocol.