BEIJING / Durban, South Africa - Delegations from more than 190 countries on Monday are gathering together in Durban, South Africa to start the new round of climate change talks, in an effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions and reduce risks to humanity.

Even as the world is vulnerable to increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as droughts and floods in recent years, climate change talks run into stalemate from time to time.

Although the global economic downturn has cast a shadow on the meeting, experts feel opportunities should not be missed again and concrete actions to avoid disasters need to be decided on in Durban.