Germany: No guarantee UN climate talks will end with a deal

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister says there’s no guarantee that this year’s United Nations climate talks will result in an agreement that’s backed by all sides. Officials from almost 200 countries will gather next month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss how to tackle global warming. The annual event is supposed to end with a concluding document that needs to be passed by consensus. In past years the talks have often gone into overtime and positions have been watered down to secure agreement from all countries. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told a parliamentary hearing that “in these times it’s not an automatic given that there will be a concluding document,” German news agency dpa reported. She said Germany’s minimum goal for the meeting was “that it takes place.”