Climate Change Warning At UN Cancun Summit

The top UN climate official, Christiana Figueres, said the fate of low-lying islands should be "a wake-up call".

Big differences remain between nations on issues such as cutting emissions, protecting from climate impacts, and inspections of others' emission curbs.

It is unclear whether those issues can be resolved in the three days left.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon congratulated negotiators for their work so far.

"The work has been difficult but I see the results of negotiations are encouraging, although it is clear there are formidable challenges to overcome," he said in his opening speech. Read the full report here.

Source: by Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News, Cancun, Mexico.