UN climate talks begin amid uncertainty over US position

BONN, Germany — Despite uncertainties about whether the United States will remain committed to the Paris climate accord under President Donald Trump, envoys convened talks Monday in Germany on implementing the details of the deal to combat global warming.

During ten days of talks in the western city of Bonn, officials will try to agree on how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions, a treaty that former U.S. President Barack Obama’s government played a leading role in forging.

The Paris accord calls for limiting the global average temperature increase since the industrial revolution to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) or less — a goal that has been called ambitious.

Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that is hosting the Bonn talks, said it was important to make progress on the nuts and bolts of the agreement before November’s annual climate summit. Her agency’s budget is also up for discussion.