The United Nations started climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan Monday to continue negotiations on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, expiring 2012.

Over 10,000 delegates from governments, non-government organizations gathered for two weeks starting from December 1.

Addressing the conference, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he is convinced that the Poznan discussion will serve as the basis for the success of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next year.

"Combating climate change is timeless and permanent and should not be forgotten due to economic problems," Tusk said.

"The financial crisis should not prevent the commitment to other urgent issues like climate change," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

US President-elect Barack Obama was praised at the opening ceremony for setting "ambitious" goals for fighting climate change and vowing to sweep away George W. Bush's climate policies.

Obama has set a goal of reducing US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 with the help of a 10-year programme worth 150 billion dollars in renewable energy. According to Obama, carbon emissions in the US, which is one of the biggest world polluters, could be reduced by 80 percent in 2050.

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