Vanuatu's foreign minister singled out the US for allegedly obstructing progress at talks on limiting global warming taking place at the COP24 conference in Katowice, Poland.

"It pains me deeply to have watched the people of the United States and other developed countries across the globe suffering the devastating impacts of climate-induced tragedies, while their professional negotiators are here at COP24 putting red lines through any mention of loss and damage in the Paris guidelines and square brackets around any possibility for truthfully and accurately reporting progress against humanity's most existential threat," said Vanuatu FM Ralph Regenvanu.

The US and other big carbon emitters are holding up substantial talks over semantics.  The plan was to "welcome" a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that spells out the dire consequences if global warming is allowed to exceed 1.5 C Degrees above pre-industrial levels.  But the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait are insisting the report be only "noted".

The issue is reportedly holding up progress on negotiating a final statement and guidelines that all nations would follow to try to limit climate change.

"Whether you welcome, or note, or shamefully ignore the science altogether," said Mr. Regenvanu, "the fact remains that this is catastrophic for humanity, and party negotiators blocking meaningful progress should have much on their conscience."