UN climate talks show strong support for typhoon-hit Philippines

Delegates from nearly 200 nations at the annual UN climate talks have showed strong support to the Philippines dealing with typhoon damage.

The United States pledged to offer 20 million U.S. dollars in donations and the European Union added 10 million euros (13.5 million dollars) for the reconstruction of affected areas in addition to the previous 13 million euros for immediate disaster relief.

Prior to the 19th UN climate talks, a super typhoon known as Haiyan had struck the island country and left thousands dead, widely seen as a painful reminder of possible adverse impacts of climate change.

Earlier on Monday when the two-week-long conference kicked off in Warsaw, Naderev Sano, chief negotiator of the Philippines delegation, announced to refrain from eating until "meaningful outcome is in sight." He received a standing ovation for his emotional speech.

"I am on a 24-hour fast. I only drink water and eat very few vegetables at night, and I plan to continue until the end of the conference," Sano said here on Wednesday in an interview with Xinhua.

Apart from overwhelming sympathy among national delegations, some environmentalists later decided to join Sano in fasting to protest and add pressure on the negotiations, according to the Climate Action Network that collectively represents hundreds of non-governmental organizations.

"We are very thankful and touched by all the help coming from other countries. For now I am in high spirit and very inspired by the solidarity of the people," Sano said.

The first few days of the conference mainly focused on establishing a loss and damage mechanism to help countries severely affected by climate change. A proposal on the mechanism tabled by the Group of 77 and China won much support from the developing world.

EU negotiators said in a press conference that the bloc would agree to accept the proposal as a working basis for future discussion.