Brazil Urges Nations on Climate Change 11/18 06:00

   With a direct letter sent to nations, host country Brazil is shifting the 
U.N. climate conference into a higher gear.

   (AP) -- With a direct letter sent to nations, host country Brazil is 
shifting the U.N. climate conference into a higher gear.

   The letter sent late Monday comes during the final week of what has been 
billed as a historic climate summit, the first ever in the Amazon rainforest, a 
key regulator of climate because trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas 
that warms the planet.

   The letter comes ahead of speeches of high-level ministers Tuesday. 
Headliners include representatives from influential European countries like Ed 
Miliband, energy secretary of the United Kingdom, and Deputy Prime Minister 
Sophie Hermans of the Netherlands. More leaders will also speak from small 
island states and developing countries like Barbados and Bangladesh, both 
facing loss of land as seas rise because of climate change.

   The letter asks leaders to hash out many aspects of a potential agreement by 
Tuesday night so that much is out of the way before the final set decisions 
Friday, when the conference is scheduled to end. Climate summits routinely go 
past their last day, as all nations come to the negotiating table trying to 
balance domestic concerns with major shifts needed around the world to protect 
the environment and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

   Brazil's guidance for the summit, called COP30, is raising hopes for 
significant measures to fight global warming, which could range from a road map 
to move away from fossil fuels like oil and coal, or more money to help nations 
build out clean energies like wind and solar.

   For negotiators, Brazil's letter will mean later nights as they seek to 
strike political bargains across a host of contentious issues.

   "There are important concessions we expect from all sides," said Andr 
Corra do Lago, COP30 president. "It is said you have to give to receive."

   That Wednesday timeline is "pretty ambitious" and the stakes are high, said 
Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate think tank E3G.

   "Whether it's dealing with the impacts of climate change, dealing with 
increased energy bills and energy insecurity, improving health, creating jobs. 
Those are the things that people care about. They don't care about some 
sub-paragraph in a legal decision adopted here in Belem," Meyer said. "Brazil, 
the presidency, has made that very clear since the beginning, that that's going 
to be the litmus test."

   He added that the optimistic spirit of the host country "is starting to get 
a little infectious" and that that is part of building trust and goodwill 
amongst nations.

   "I sense ambition here. I sense a determination," former German climate 
envoy Jennifer Morgan said Monday morning.