Representatives from more than 160 countries began formal negotiations here Monday on a treaty to mitigate climate change, with the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, urging governments to help in "saving the planet." The talks, which are scheduled to conclude at the end of 2009, come three months after a rancorous meeting in Indonesia that exposed deep fissures in how countries plan to battle global warming. "Saving our planet requires you to be ambitious in what you aim and, equally, in how hard you work to reach your goal," Ban told delegates in a prerecorded video message. No breakthroughs are expected at the weeklong meeting in Bangkok, which is mainly intended to lay out the agenda for a series of subsequent sessions.

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