Paris climate change talks to run past deadline as ministers seek deal

Negotiators at the United Nations climate change summit in Paris worked through the night in an effort to reach a deal.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is chairing the summit, said he was confident agreement would be reached tomorrow - one day later than the original deadline.

The latest draft document commits to keeping temperature rises "well below" two degrees above pre-industrial levels. However, there have been differences over the level of responsibility to be placed on developed and emerging economies.

Ministers from across the  were expected to wrap up the 195-nation UN climate-saving deal today, the French hosts said, but that now looks unlikely.

"It will be presented Saturday morning for adoption midday," said a source at the French presidency of the Paris climate conference.

"Things are moving in the right direction," said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is presiding over the talks, according to the source.

It was 9pm last night when - after 11 days of negotiation - the latest and most important draft text for the international climate deal was published in Paris.

The UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said it puts forward an agreement that is ambitious, fair, and has transparency of implementation over a few decades built into it.

Key political crunch issues remain unresolved, however.

For instance, the treatment and climate responsibilities of developing countries compared to those of developed countries is still to to be agreed.

So too is how much, and which, countries will have to contribute towards climate finance, as well as which poorer countries can access that money, and under what conditions.

There is a stated aspiration to keep the rise in global temperatures to one and a half degrees centigrade although there is no clear or credible pathway included for how that is to be achieved.

Environmentalists and aid agencies were instantly critical of what they see as a weakening in the commitment to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions.

The new proposed target is for the world to achieve carbon neutrality by the second half of the 21st century instead of zero carbon emissions.

This would allow the continued exploitation of coal and oil provided increased afforestation and other carbon sinks are used to absorb the extra carbon emissions that result...
 AFP
rte.ie
11/12/15
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