USA doubles annual aid for climate adaption to almost $900 million

A call for an International Tribunal of Climate Justice to punish rich countries that fail to live up to their commitments was also dropped, as were references to emissions from aviation and shipping.

‘Clearly, this is the beginning of the end of the negotiations and there’s still a lot of work to be done, ‘ she said.

Some protesters chanted “what do we want? It’s crunch time now”, said Kaisa Kosonen, a climate policy expert with Greenpeace.

Eleven days of negotiations produced a slimmer but still-troubled version of a climate deal on Wednesday, with negotiators from 195 countries divided over how far to go in curbing global temperature rises – and how to pay for it. “This is not happening”, the Minister said.

“They’re having a good time, and I’m sure they’re having enough to eat and enough to drink, but that party will be over”.

Some progress was made on adaptation in the draft text as well with many provisions getting completely rid of the square brackets in which different options on any issue are enclosed.

“In 2014, global Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels grew by just 0.6 percent”, lead author Rob Jackson said in a news release. “Not when more than 65 percent of the world’s carbon pollution comes from the developing world”, he said.

Another major sticking point at the talks is the future of a mechanism for dealing with the unavoidable “loss and damage” from global warming, such as rising seas and creeping deserts.

Amid a ubiquitous worldwide promotional campaign before the December 18 release of “The Force Awakens”, the spirit of Star Wars appeared to be on many minds at the Paris conference – one security guard greeted visitors Wednesday with “may the force be with you”.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday that the United States will double its contribution to helping vulnerable nations adapt to climate change impacts, as he appealed for the world to take action to deal with the phenomenon.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington that the US President is closely following the developments in Paris where more than 180 countries are trying to thrash a deal on climate change.

The EU and the developing countries, who account for more than half the countries at the talks, are backing a five-yearly review system which would see nations look at their pledges on cutting emissions and tackling climate change – and enhance the action they are taking where appropriate.

That would bring in countries like China, Mexico or South Korea, which are already providing substantial amounts of money for other developing nations.

Challenging participants at United Nations talks here to reach a new global climate agreement by Friday’s self-imposed deadline, Kerry said the USA would increase the amount of money it provides for climate adaption grants to $860 million from $430 million by 2020.

In a wide-ranging speech, Kerry also revealed the United States had joined the European Union and low lying islands in a so-called “high ambition coalition” and urged countries to “get the job” done during the coming days and deliver a bold agreement.

Australia’s environment ambassador Peter Woolcott – speaking on behalf a negotiating block of developed countries – told the conference the group had serious concerns about the text.

The decline was largely attributed to reduced coal use in China – which continued to be the world leader in emissions, responsible for 27 percent of the total – and a faster growth in renewables, with wind and solar capacities achieving record increases in 2014, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change and presented at COP21 in Paris.

Showing flexibility on the part of India to reach a climate deal here, the minister said, “Let me be clear”.

In Paris last week, Obama had met Modi on the sidelines of the climate change summit.