By Matt McGrath
Climate negotiators meeting in Bonn have begun their work amid on-going concern about future US participation in the Paris Agreement.
These latest talks are aimed at developing the rules for implementing the accord signed in the French capital in 2015.
But there is a growing worry that President Trump might soon pull out of the historic deal.
Some delegates say such a move would be a body blow for the landmark deal.
The May meeting of the UN climate talks body is normally a pretty low-key affair but this is the first gathering of delegates since Donald Trump was inaugurated. Many are worried that it could also be the time the new president decides to pull the plug on US participation in the Paris deal.
“This was supposed to be a highly technical and uneventful meeting to flesh out some of the details in the Paris Agreement. But, obviously, the speculation coming out of Washington is now at the top of our minds,” said Thoriq Ibrahim, minister of environment and energy for the Maldives and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.
