Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

The New Zealand Government's emissions reduction target has been well received at an international meeting in Germany, Associate Climate Change Minister Tim Groser says.

A target has been set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 10% to 20% by 2020, depending on what other countries agree to.

The plan was presented at the latest round of international climate change negotiations in Bonn on Monday.

About 1,000 officials are meeting in Bonn for a week of informal talks. The aim is to clear the way for the adoption of a new United Nations climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.

Mr Groser has spoken to New Zealand's chief negotiator and says the response from other countries at the meeting was uniformly positive.

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Emission targets 'political gesture'

Federated Farmers says the Government's emission targets are a political gesture.

President Don Nicholson says he has not figured out how New Zealand will meet the targets.

Mr Nicholson says it is disappointing the targets were set before the Emissions Trading Scheme review committee reported back, but accepts the Government does have an international role to play.

He says he is pleased agriculture will be part of the international climate change discussions at Copenhagen.

Time running out - UN climate boss warns

Time is running short to agree a new treaty on global warming amid deep divisions over key issues, according to top UN climate official Yvo de Boer.

Mr Boer said the political signals were positive, but progress still too slow.

"We've got a 200-plus-page text riddled with square brackets (where issues are unresolved)," Mr de Boer told BBC News.

"And it worries me to think how on earth we're going to whittle that down to meaningful language with just five weeks of negotiating time left."

One of the toughest disputes is over which countries should commit to reducing their levels of greenhouse gases.

The industrialised nations say that big polluters in the developing world, notably China and India, must be included in any treaty commitments.