Poznan

Ministers and other top officials from nearly 200 nations are gathering in Poznan, Poland, for United Nations-led negotiations aimed at reaching an ambitious global climate change deal next year.

Energy use in buildings accounts for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, but the huge potential of the construction sector to combat climate change has not been realized, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

With negotiations on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, which mandates targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, expected to wrap up in December 2009, next year will be the year of climate change, United Nations officials said today in New York.

The latest round of United Nations-led negotiations aimed at reaching an ambitious global climate change deal next year began today in Poznan, Poland, drawing around 9,000 participants from governments, business and industry, environmental groups and research institutions.