BANGKOK, March 31: Climate negotiators opened urgent talks on Monday on crafting a complex international agreement by 2009 that can slash the greenhouse gases threatening the planet while ensuring the world’s economy can keep growing.

Representatives from 163 countries launched a weeklong, UN-led meeting on the nuts-and-bolts of an agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto global warming protocol after its first phase expires in 2012.

Delegates are racing to rein in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are blamed for the rise in global temperatures. Scientists say emissions need to be reduced to avoid the worst effects of warming, which they say could lead to droughts, floods, higher sea levels and worsening storms.

“Saving our planet requires you to be ambitious in what you aim, and, equally, in how hard you work to reach your goal,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told delegates in a video message. “Decisive action in the next few decades can still prevent some of the worst predictions from becoming a reality. The world is waiting for solutions that are long-term and economically viable.”

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is hosting the Thailand meeting, told delegates their challenge over the next two years would be to negotiate an agreement that ensures that greenhouse gases stabilise over the “next 10 to 15 years” and “dramatically cut back” by the middle of the century.

He also said delegates would have to help nations adapt to the deadly effects of climate change, which threaten billions of people worldwide. Among the measures expected to be discussed are speeding up the transfer of technology from rich to poor nations as well as agreeing on a formula for providing financial assistance.

Delegates at climate talks in December on the island of Bali had agreed to launch the current talks.

“The Bali outcome created huge public expectations for strengthened international action on climate change by 2009,” de Boer said.

All participating governments, including the United States, agree that emissions need to be reduced to avert environmental catastrophe. But major polluters remain far apart over how best to achieve these goals.—AP