The Egyptian foreign minister called on rich and developing countries to show their readiness to make concessions in the United Nations climate talks scheduled to be chaired by him in November, saying on Tuesday that the negotiations should not be a "zero-sum game" between rich and poor countries.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke as officials from 40 countries held a two-day meeting in Berlin described as an opportunity to rebuild trust after technical talks last month made little progress on key issues such as climate aid to developing countries.

He said the "very useful" discussions brought Egyptian officials "closer to understanding areas of convergence as well as potential divergence that requires more work from all of us" at the November summit in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Developing countries are still waiting for rich countries to provide $100 billion in climate aid each year, a target supposed to be reached by 2020.

They also want progress on the issue of compensation for "losses and damages" caused by climate change. As the Berlin meeting opened on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the agreed global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements was slipping out of reach even as more people suffered from severe floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires.

European countries have pledged to meet their climate goals despite the war in Ukraine, which pushed some to seek new fossil fuel sources and at least temporarily switch to coal to compensate for the shortage of Russian energy shipments.

Developing countries have viewed the measures with suspicion. Shoukry, the designated president of the Sharm El-Sheikh conference, said, "We must make substantive progress in all areas and ensure that no one is left behind."

He said during a brief press conference alongside his German counterpart, "This requires everyone to rise to the occasion and show understanding and willingness to make concessions."

He added, "We cannot afford to delay commitments or backtrack" amid the fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic.

Shoukry said, "Climate change negotiations must not be a zero-sum game between developed and developing countries."