Jan 30 (Reuters) - The world's biggest emitters of global-warming greenhouse gases met behind closed doors in Honolulu on Wednesday for a U.S.-sponsored conference as protesters pointed up Hawaii's vulnerability to climate change. In December, officials at climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, agreed to start two years of negotiations to seal a broader pact to fight global warming. As part of the meeting among nearly 200 nations, a range of other pressing issues to aid the developing world were discussed. Following is some of what was agreed, or not agreed, at the talks. TWO-YEAR DIALOGUE Negotiators agreed to start two years of talks on a new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main deal for fighting climate change until 2012, to bind outsiders led by the United States, China and India. The talks will start with a first meeting by April this year and end with adoption of a new treaty in Copenhagen in late 2009. A U.S. U-turn allowed the deal to go ahead after a dramatic session in which Washington was booed for opposing demands by poor nations for the rich to do more to help them fight warming. AMBITION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE The Bali talks were never expected to set firm greenhouse gas emissions targets but the Bali agreement did set a global aim for "deep cuts in global emissions" to avoid dangerous climate change. The final text distinguished between rich and poor countries, calling on developed nations to consider "quantified" emissions cuts and developing countries to consider "mitigation actions." ADAPTATION FUND The Bali meeting agreed to launch a U.N. fund to help poor nations cope with damage from climate change such as droughts or rising seas. The Adaptation Fund now comprises only about $36 million but might rise to $1 billion-$5 billion a year by 2030 if investments in green technology in developing nations surges. The accord, enabling the fund to start in 2008, broke deadlock on management by splitting responsibility between the Global Environment Facility, which funds clean energy projects, and the World Bank. The fund would have a 16-member board with strong representation from developing nations. PRESERVING TROPICAL FORESTS A pay-and-preserve scheme known as reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD) aims to allow poorer nations from 2013 to sell carbon offsets to rich countries in return for not burning their tropical forests. The nearly 200 nations recognized the urgent need to take further action to cut carbon and methane emissions from tropical forests. The draft decision encourages parties to undertake pilot projects to address the main causes of deforestation. CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE The meeting postponed any consideration of a plan to fund an untested technology that captures and buries the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, emitted from power plants that burn fossil fuels. Some countries want capture and storage to qualify for carbon offsets for slowing global warming. (Writing by Alister Doyle, Gerard Wynn, Emma Graham-Harrison, David Fogarty and Paul Grant; Editing by Xavier Briand)
Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva (R) beside Justice Minister Tarso Genro speaks about deforestation in Amazon rainforest during a news conference in Brasilia, January 30, 2008. REUTERS/Jamil Bittar (BRAZIL) ...
