The U.N.'s top climate official, Yvo de Boer, expressed concern that the Bali climate talks could collapse if 190 nations do not quickly resolve disputes hindering negotiations on a new global warming agreement. De Boer warned that the talks are deadlocked over the terms for launching negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, and stated that failure to reach an agreement could result in the talks falling apart. The United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia are currently opposing the inclusion of a guideline for wealthy nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 in future negotiations. The European Union, on the other hand, supports this range to demonstrate leadership from wealthy countries and has accused Washington of hindering progress in Bali. This range was included in a recent draft, which outlined terms for discussions aimed at preventing disasters such as famines, droughts, rising sea levels, and the melting of Himalayan glaciers. Humberto Rosa, Portugal's Secretary of State for Environment and the EU's chief negotiator at the Bali talks, expressed disappointment in the United States for delaying global action. "The U.S. has started using new terminology like engagement and leadership, but simply using words is insufficient. We require concrete action. This is the primary obstacle," he informed Reuters. Washington, not part of the Kyoto Protocol, argues that providing guidelines would predetermine the results of the discussions. Additionally, it claims that the 25-40 percent range is founded on limited scientific research. De Boer stated that negotiations needed to resolve all outstanding disputes by midday on Friday in order to allow time for the translation of documents into the six official U.N. languages. U.N. climate talks typically run late into the night on the final day. The Kyoto Protocol obliges 37 industrialized countries to reduce their emissions from 2008 to 2012. Developing nations, such as China and India, are not required to reduce emissions, and President George W. Bush withdrew from the agreement in 2001, arguing that it would negatively impact the U.S. economy and unfairly excluded targets for developing countries. The United Nations aims for all countries to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol by late 2009 to allow for ratification by the end of 2012 and to provide clear guidelines for investments in clean energy technology. China is pushing for discussions on a new international agreement to continue beyond 2009 to allow the incoming American president more time to get involved. However, many other countries do not support this idea. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg emphasized the importance of keeping global temperature increases under 2 degrees Celsius and ensuring that global emissions peak by 2015. The speaker mentioned that our actions will be evaluated by future generations. Additionally, he stated that the wealthy will need to bear the majority of the expenses for assisting developing nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.