The first round of United Nations climate change talks in 2008 got under way in Bangkok at the end of March, with the tough but successful negotiations in Bali still fresh in everyone’s memory. Parties had agreed at Bali to jointly step up international efforts to combat climate change and get to an agreed outcome in Copenhagen in 2009.

The talks in Bangkok thus marked the beginning of a new negotiating phase, drawing delegates from 162 countries tasked with fleshing out the Bali Road Map. This involved drawing up a work programme to craft a future international climate pact that will successfully halt the increase in global emissions within the next 10-15 years and dramatically reduce emissions by mid-century. The two-stranded talks also involved taking forward important work under the Kyoto Protocol process.