DURBAN, South Africa » The U.N.’s top climate official says she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on whether industrial countries should make further commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Delegates from about 190 countries are in Durban for a two-week conference beginning Monday. They hope to break deadlocks on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Christiana Figueres, head of the UN climate secretariat, says a decision on extending emission reduction commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has been postponed for two years. Previous commitments expire next year.

She told reporters Sunday that "it’s a tall order for governments to face this," but that they show no interest in yet another delay.