UN Climate Chief's Resignation Leaves Talks Hanging

"AMSTERDAM -- The sharp-tongued U.N. official who shepherded troubled climate talks for nearly four years announced his resignation Thursday, leaving an uncertain path to a new treaty on global warming.

Exhausted and frustrated by unrelenting bickering between rich and poor countries, Yvo de Boer said he will step down July 1 to work in business and academia.

With no obvious successor in sight, fears were voiced that whoever follows will be far less forceful than the skilled former civil servant from the Netherlands.

His departure takes effect five months before 193 nations reconvene in Cancun, Mexico, for another attempt to reach a worldwide legal agreement on controlling greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for the gradual heating of the Earth that scientists predict will worsen weather-related disasters."

Arthur Max reports for the Associated Press February 18, 2010.

See Also:

"Climate Pact Appears Increasingly Fragile" (Washington Post)

"Top U.N. Climate Diplomat Announces Resignation" (ClimateWire)

"Yvo de Boer's Resignation Compounds Sense of Gathering Climate Crisis" (UK Guardian)

"US Seeks Climate Progress Despite UN Resignation" (AFP)

Troubled Talks, Further Setback (Financial Times)

De Boer To Take up KPMG Role (Irish Times)

Resignation Clouds Future of Climate Talks (Toronto Globe & Mail)

"Climate Chief's Resignation Sparks Treaty Talk" (Australian ABC)

"Climate Chief Quits in Frustration" (Edmonton Journal)

"Kyoto Risks Dying, No New Climate Deal In Sight" (Reuters)

"Factbox: What Next For The Kyoto Protocol?" (Reuters)

"Green Left and Big Polluters Win; G20 Climate Deal Dead" (AFP)

"Fox News Adds Their Own Climate-Change-Denial Twist To AP Report" (Media Matters)