UN climate talks in Thailand hit snag over Japanese proposal

Delegates working on the negotiating agenda for a sweeping global warming pact clashed Friday over Japan's push for early discussions of industry-specific limits on carbon dioxide emissions, delegates and environmentalists said.

Representatives from 163 countries were hammering out the working plan for talks meant to lead to a climate change agreement by the end of next year to prevent rising temperatures from triggering environmental disaster.

The five-day U.N.-sponsored discussions were scheduled to end Friday. Delegates disagreed, however, over how soon they should schedule in-depth talks on Japan's so-called "sectoral approach" proposal. A …