End to bickering urged to achieve new climate pact

Officials from more than 100 countries are attending an annual U.N. environmental meeting on Indonesia's resort island of Bali. They said trust must be restored among nations following the failure at a global conference in Copenhagen in December to forge a binding accord on cutting emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases which could threaten humanity.

"There was a very strong message from many countries that this is actually an existential challenge," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told a news conference.

"One overriding sentiment" expressed by many countries "was the need to rebuild confidence, to address the question of trust deficit," he said.

At Copenhagen, nations only agreed on a voluntary plan to tackle climate change. The more than 190 nations will reconvene in Cancun, Mexico, later this year for another attempt to reach a binding agreement.

The aim is to keep the Earth's average temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels of the late 18th century.

U.N. scientists have said any temperature rise above that figure could lead to catastrophic sea-level rises, threatening islands and coastal cities. It would also kill off many species of animals and plants while altering the agricultural economies of many countries.

Despite the call for harmony, Chinese Foreign Ministry official Guo Zaofeng accused developed countries of not living up to their past commitments to cut greenhouse gases and provide funds and technology to poor countries grappling with global warming.

"This way, they've broken the atmosphere of trust," Guo told The Associated Press. "This is why we did not get quicker progress during the negotiations."

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has already said it would cut its "carbon intensity" — a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production — by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels.