Given the chaos at last year's global warming meeting in Copenhagen, delegates to this year's sequel in Canc?n, Mexico, hoped mainly to stop the bleeding. In fact, they did more than keep the battered United Nations process alive. Delegates were freed of the expectations of the conference in Copenhagen – which failed to achieve its main objective: a legally binding treaty limiting emissions. And they found common ground in a few achievable steps that will increase trust among nations and could form the basis for stronger measures down the road, said The New York Times in an editorial published Friday. Excerpts: Rich countries, for instance, agreed to help poorer ones preserve their tropical forests and adopt cleaner energy systems through a new “green fund” that will initially be administered by the World Bank. For their part, developing countries agreed to greater transparency in reporting their emissions and their progress in reducing them. Transparency had been a huge sticking point with the Chinese, who do not like anyone looking over their shoulders. Tough bargaining by the Americans and timely pressure from other big developing nations like India brought China on board. Saving the United Nations process, however, is not the same as saving the planet; the hard work of actually cutting emissions will fall to individual nations, especially the big emitters. It will thus be important to continue exploring parallel negotiating on tracks like the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, originally convened by President George W. Bush and consisting of 17 big nations that account for nearly four-fifths of all emissions; and the Group of 20 industrial nations, which has put climate change high on its agenda. __
