First draft of climate change pact drawn up in Paris
The speed with which the draft was created suggests good progress, but it is likely to have many points that countries will want to negotiate.
Negotiators from 195 nations at the COP21 summit in Paris on Saturday finalised a blueprint for a pact to stave off some of the most dramatic consequences of climate change. No part of the draft has been finalised, according to reports, because there is likely to be negotiations between developing countries and wealthier nations, especially on points such as progress towards emission reduction goals. The Guardian reported that though the document has been cut down to 20 pages, it remains “littered with brackets” that are likely to be points of disagreement the leaders will have to discuss.
Overall, several advisors have shown optimism about the draft and say that talks have been more productive than those at the Copenhagen summit in 2009. The final draft agreement also includes the options of holding temperature increases to 1.5C or “well below two degrees”. While many countries remained cooperative, there were reports that Saudi Arabia had blocked negotiations on some fronts. A group of 10 Democratic United States senators also reassured countries at the climate meeting on Saturday they “had Barack Obama’s back” and would defend his agenda in a Republican-controlled Congress. Republican leaders have been known to rubbish the idea that climate change exists as a problem. Last week, Obama had said that the US would assume responsibility for its role in climate change and do everything it could to manage global warming.