Representatives from 163 countries held five days of talks in Bangkok, the first negotiations on a global warming pact to take effect in 2012. Scientists say the world needs to stabilise emissions in the next 10 to 15 years and cut them by half by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.“Everyone gets their needs met,” said Dr Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. A subsequent meeting in Ghana in August would address the Japanese proposal, US efforts to cut emissions, and deforestation. The Japanese called “sectoral approach” ~ triggered opposition from China, India and other developing countries arguing it was an attempt to shift the burden of responsibility for climate change from rich to poor nations.

Tokyo hopes for an agreement on energy efficiency targets for specific industries across national boundaries.It would preserve competition, while rewarding nations like Japan that already have high levels of energy efficiency. Mr Su Wei, a Chinese delegate said: “It is intended to substitute for targets and would shift the burden on developing countries, which are not very advanced in energy efficiency technology.”

An Indian delegate dismissed the Japanese proposal as a “huge protectionist scam.” Japan, which is struggling to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, is campaigning to put its approach at the center of the future warming agreement, which is to take effect when the Kyoto pact ends in 2012. Kyoji Komachi, Japan's top negotiator in Bangkok, said Japan was not using the proposal to force developing countries into the same emissions targets as wealthy industrialised nations.