Russian and US obstruction was 'insult' to climate scientists

The refusal of Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US to officially welcome a report on the consequences of 1.5C of global warming at the annual UN climate talks is "insulting", according to a leading European climate scientist.

"The UN specifically asked for this report," said Richard Betts, professor at the university of Exeter and the head of Climate Impacts in the Met Office Hadley Centre.

"We know that most countries wanted to 'welcome' the report, and some wanted to only 'n...