COP21: Climate delegates agree draft deal text

5 December 2015
Delegates at a UN climate conference in Paris have approved a draft text they hope will form the basis of an agreement to curb global carbon emissions.

The 48-page document will be discussed by ministers on Monday.

They will try to arrive at a comprehensive settlement by the end of next week.

The French climate ambassador warned that major political differences still needed to be resolved.

Delegates from 195 countries worked through the night at the conference centre in Le Bourget, conscious of a midday Saturday deadline imposed by the French presidency of this meeting.

The weighty document will now go forward to ministers who will have to take the many political decisions still required, if the text is to be turned into a long-term agreement.

“Nothing has been decided and nothing will be left behind,” said French climate ambassador Laurence Tubiana.

“This text marks the will of all to reach an agreement. We are not at the end of the route. Major political issues are yet to be resolved,” she warned.

Tricky decisions

Many delegates were relieved that they had at least reached this point, as it marks a critical point after four years of negotiations.

The document lays out a range of options for ministers on what the long-term goal of the deal should be, as well as the scale and the methods of raising climate finance for poorer nations.

Among the many tricky issues they will have to deal with is differentiation: many countries are reluctant to change the way that nations are divided into developed and developing, based on where they were in 1992, when the UN Convention was signed.

Many richer countries want this to change, and want a greater number of emerging economies to take on emissions reduction targets and become climate finance donors.

 

Continue reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35015765