Politics

Major Climate Deal Unlikely at U.N. Climate Talks

By Clare Foran and National Journal
A junk sails past the city's skyline shrouded in a dense blanket of toxic smog in Hong Kong on April 15, 2013. The air pollution index reached the 'severe' level for the third time in 2013 with high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide present.  (National Journal)

It is unlikely that any major climate deal will emerge from talks at this year's United Nations climate conference held in Warsaw, Poland, from Nov. 11 to 22, according to Reuters.

Developing nations like China and India are reluctant to decrease their reliance on coal-powered electricity, which burns cheaply but produces vast amounts of carbon pollution. Meanwhile, developed countries such as the European Union's member nations have expressed concern that support for renewable energy will drive up the price of electricity, making it likely that the countries represented at the conference will fail to reach a sweeping agreement to lower carbon emissions.