“Getting them to agree on the future of the planet and a deal on climate change is probably one of the toughest pieces of negotiation they’ll ever get involved in”. They also noted the latest draft did not explicitly mention fossil fuels, the main man-made source of carbon dioxide.
Advertisement
“We know the constraints of the United States”, said Xolisa Ngwadla, lead negotiator for the African Group.
More than 100 developing nations favour the 1.5C goal, saying higher temperature rises will bring more floods, droughts, decertification and sea level rise that could swamp low-lying islands from the Pacific to the Caribbean.
“I think there’s more of a sense that something is going to get done … but we’re not there yet.” he told AP.
The French hosts were still insisting they expected the final draft text – the skeleton of a climate change agreement – to be ready by Saturday when more peaceful protests are planned by climate activists across Paris.
Officials from 195 nations were locked in negotiations through the night, seeking to resolve the final sticking points, none seemingly insurmountable: the phrasing of a goal for phasing out carbon emissions later this century; the frequency of further negotiations meant to encourage even faster action.
China’s foreign ministry said that Xi had pressed for the two governments to “strengthen coordination with all parties” and “make joint efforts to ensure the Paris climate summit reaches an accord as scheduled”.
The “common but differentiated of responsibilities” was built into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which required developed countries to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions but required more or less nothing of developing countries.
India’s Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, underlined the divisions that remained between the rich and poor countries, adding: “The developed world is not showing flexibility”.
U.S Secretary of State John Kerry at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris.
Liu dismissed the coalition as a “performance”. In Paris, the Chinese delegation’s deputy chief Liu Zhenmin said he was “quite confident” a deal would be sealed on Saturday.
The new temperature target will lie at the centre of a new climate change agreement that has been years in the making.
“This needs consensus”, said Michael Jacobs, an economist with the New Climate Economy project, speaking to reporters outside Paris. “These included interventions requesting the deletion of long-term emissions pathways, concrete language to land the 5-year revisiting of targets, and a refusal to recognize the science”.
But some countries remained unhappy that the global temperature rise limit was not 1.5 degrees, there was still resistance to the inclusion of carbon markets and the thorny issue of the problem of who should take the most responsibility – developed or developing nations – remained. One option said such “loss and damage” would be addressed in a way that doesn’t involve liability and compensation – a US demand.
Fabius has reached out beyond and above the diplomatic representatives in Paris and their more entrenched positions to political leaders in capitals.
Mr Fabius, who has presided over the talks, had said earlier that the “conditions were never better” for a strong and ambitious agreement.
Advertisement
They said it is not surprising, given that worldwide negotiators are trying for an accord that will change the global economy over the long term.
