Hollande, who joined the conference on Saturday to lend some political weight to the negotiations and gave some time to the interlocutors to study the draft final text, also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s support as a key member among the 196 negotiating countries.
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Numerous 195 nations taking part in the talks have billed the COP21 climate deal as the last chance to avoid catastrophic climate change effects such as severe droughts, floods and storms, as well as rising sea levels. The draft agreement had said developed countries “shall” commit to reducing emissions; in adopting the pact organizers changed the language to say those countries “should” make that commitment.
“There will be no putting it off. A decisive agreement is here and now”, Mr Hollande declared, saying that delegates were “attached to this handsome idea that the global community can act [AND]what brings us together is the planet itself”.
LE BOURGET, France (AP) – France crafted an unprecedented deal to slow global warming by cutting and then eliminating greenhouse gas pollution, urging climate negotiators from almost 200 nations to adopt it Saturday.
It was learnt that “differentiation” is one of the sticking points in the new draft.
How countries will get there: The countries that sign the agreement pledge to “reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible”, but the text doesn’t specify a date.
Negotiators from more than 190 countries in Paris are aiming to create something that’s never been done before: an agreement for all countries to reduce man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and help the poorest adapt to rising seas, fiercer weather and other impacts of global warming.
The pact also establishes a system to encourage nations to voluntary increase their levels of ambition every five years, and aims to send billions of dollars to help poor nations transition to a greener economy and cope with the impacts of climate change, like more frequent and more intense extreme weather events.
“We have a 1.5-degree wall to climb but the ladder isn’t tall enough”, Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace said at a press conference.
But Inuit and Indigenous people wanted more recognition of human rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples in the document, as well as access to money for coping with climate change.
U.S. President Barack Obama, for whom a deal in Paris is a legacy-defining achievement, said it was “huge”.
But scientists say that, even if the pledges were fully honored, Earth would be on track for warming far above safe limits.
Following requests from small island nations, the pact recognizes the need to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), though it is simply aspirational and not binding. “Millions of people depend on your wisdom”.
The accord is based on individual contributions that each nation has formulated based on its own abilities.
And he answered, “one thing will come up time and again: you will be able to say that on the twelfth of December you were in Paris for the agreement on the climate”. The last climate summit, in Copenhagen in 2009, ended in failure when countries couldn’t agree on a binding emissions pact.
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, is calling the deal “historic”, and “sets world on new path to low emissions, climate-resilient future”.
“It is my conviction that we have come up with an ambitious… agreement”, Fabius said, telling the ministers they would achieve a “historic turning point” for the world if they endorsed it.
The protests are timed to coincide with the end of two weeks of climate talks outside Paris. UN climate conferences often run over time because of the high stakes and widely differing demands and economic concerns of countries as diverse as the United States and tiny Pacific island nations.
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Developing nations have insisted richer countries must take the lion’s share of the responsibility and efforts, as they have emitted the most greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.
