Yagami Website

The UN climate chief said Monday that devastating floods in the Philippines highlighted the need for the world to agree on a global warming pact by a December deadline.

At least 140 people were killed and nearly half a million left homeless after floods at the weekend inundated the capital Manila and surrounding areas, leaving rescuers struggling to cope.

The disaster came as officials from around the world met in Thailand for the penultimate negotiating session before a December meeting in Copenhagen, where 192 countries hope to agree new targets for tackling climate change.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer told reporters in Bangkok that he had seen the "horrifying pictures" of the floods in the Philippines.

"One of the reasons why countries have gathered here is to ensure the frequency and severity of those kinds of extreme weather events decreases as a result of ambitious climate change policy," de Boer said.

Delegates at the talks are still trying to thrash out a draft text for the Copenhagen meeting, with major disagreements on the two key issues of cutting emissions of greenhouse gases and meeting the associated costs.

The talks follow last week's UN climate summit in New York and a G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, which failed to break the deadlock.