<p>Fresh UN climate talks opened in Bonn today with a plea for nations to overcome rifts as scientists reported record global temperatures for a month of September.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In an appeal to negotiators at the six-day meeting, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said renewed commitments made at a world summit on September 23 to curb climate change should prompt negotiators to "build bridges."<br /><br />Their discussions must lay the foundations for the annual ministerial-level talks to be held in Lima in December, she said.<br /><br />The Peru meeting, in turn, must pave the way to a pact in Paris in December 2015 that for the first time will bring 195 nations, rich and poor alike, into the same arena of commitment.<br /><br />"This week is a key opportunity to reach out to your counterparts, build bridges and find a path forward," said Figueres.<br /><br />The New York summit called by UN chief Ban Ki-moon had "shifted the ground on what is possible in climate change," she argued.<br /><br />"Collectively, your heads of state have reassured the world that we will address climate change. Today... it is up to you to chart the path of that solution."<br /><br />The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), meanwhile, said last month was the hottest September since reliable records of global average temperatures began in 1880.<br /><br />NOAA reported a record for September of 15.72 degrees Celsius (60.3 degrees Fahrenheit) -- 0.72 C above the 20th-century average.<br /><br />"With the exception of February, every month to date in 2014 has been among its four warmest on record, with May, June, August and September all record warm," NOAA said.<br />Negotiators in Bonn face long-standing differences over sharing curbs on greenhouse gases, the source of warming.<br /><br />These cuts are meant to limit average global warming to no more than 2 C over pre-industrial levels and save the planet from potentially catastrophic climate damage.<br />Figueres stressed the new climate pact, due to enter into force from 2020, "must irreversibly bend the curb of emissions", which have continued rising.<br /><br />But many technicalities have to be resolved, including the very legal nature of the pact and how it will be monitored and enforced.<br /><br />The talks are the first chance for negotiators to discuss a rough 22-page outline for the deal that has been drawn up by working group leaders and distributed for scrutiny in July.<br /><br />The meeting must also start narrowing down what data countries will be required to provide when they submit their pledges for emissions curbs in the first quarter of next year.<br /><br />This topic will likely see negotiators return to a sore point -- whether rich countries should have tougher targets because of their longer history of burning fossil fuels</p>
<p>Fresh UN climate talks opened in Bonn today with a plea for nations to overcome rifts as scientists reported record global temperatures for a month of September.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In an appeal to negotiators at the six-day meeting, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said renewed commitments made at a world summit on September 23 to curb climate change should prompt negotiators to "build bridges."<br /><br />Their discussions must lay the foundations for the annual ministerial-level talks to be held in Lima in December, she said.<br /><br />The Peru meeting, in turn, must pave the way to a pact in Paris in December 2015 that for the first time will bring 195 nations, rich and poor alike, into the same arena of commitment.<br /><br />"This week is a key opportunity to reach out to your counterparts, build bridges and find a path forward," said Figueres.<br /><br />The New York summit called by UN chief Ban Ki-moon had "shifted the ground on what is possible in climate change," she argued.<br /><br />"Collectively, your heads of state have reassured the world that we will address climate change. Today... it is up to you to chart the path of that solution."<br /><br />The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), meanwhile, said last month was the hottest September since reliable records of global average temperatures began in 1880.<br /><br />NOAA reported a record for September of 15.72 degrees Celsius (60.3 degrees Fahrenheit) -- 0.72 C above the 20th-century average.<br /><br />"With the exception of February, every month to date in 2014 has been among its four warmest on record, with May, June, August and September all record warm," NOAA said.<br />Negotiators in Bonn face long-standing differences over sharing curbs on greenhouse gases, the source of warming.<br /><br />These cuts are meant to limit average global warming to no more than 2 C over pre-industrial levels and save the planet from potentially catastrophic climate damage.<br />Figueres stressed the new climate pact, due to enter into force from 2020, "must irreversibly bend the curb of emissions", which have continued rising.<br /><br />But many technicalities have to be resolved, including the very legal nature of the pact and how it will be monitored and enforced.<br /><br />The talks are the first chance for negotiators to discuss a rough 22-page outline for the deal that has been drawn up by working group leaders and distributed for scrutiny in July.<br /><br />The meeting must also start narrowing down what data countries will be required to provide when they submit their pledges for emissions curbs in the first quarter of next year.<br /><br />This topic will likely see negotiators return to a sore point -- whether rich countries should have tougher targets because of their longer history of burning fossil fuels</p>