UN climate conference: Shorter draft of agreement drawn up in Paris

Mr Jacobs said there would be a deal, though negotiations would be “tense and difficult” in the next two days, and there would not be a binary split between countries in the new agreement because it was too much of a red line for too many countries.

“It is not bold enough”, European Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said of the draft. In fact, growing evidence finds that climate action and economic growth can – and must – go together.

“We have people who still deny this: Members of the flat earth society who seem to believe that the ocean rise won’t be a problem because the water will just spill over the edge”, Kerry said to appreciative laughter from the audience that included U.N. Foundation founder Ted Turner.

“I think people see this action plan as progress over the last action plan”, he said.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sosene Sopoaga said a new draft accord released Wednesday is “looking good”, but warned “the next few hours are extremely important”.

“The relationship has never been this close, open and transparent”, says Tony de Brum, the foreign minister for the Marshall Islands. “We understand the political concerns they have because of the situation in the Senate and the position of the Republican Party”.

Delegates enter the plenary hall at the climate conference in Paris.

The latest news related to the United Nations climate conference in Paris, which runs through December 11.

Limiting warming to a 1.5℃ temperature rise above pre-industrial levels is one of three potential targets on the table as negotiations approach the crucial final days. There are about 100 places where there are decisions still to be made, including multiple options left in brackets, or blank spaces. However the lastest version dded an option to limit warming simply to “below 2C”.

Several activist groups staged small protests around Paris and the conference venue Wednesday, pushing for an ambitious accord.

Most man-made emissions come from the burning of oil, coal and gas – fossil fuels that meet about 80 percent of global energy demand.

“It’s one of the most fascinating things that’s going on at the moment”, said Ruth Davis from Greenpeace. Developed countries had agreed to provide about $100 billion by 2020 to help developing countries cope with climate change. It will help fund domestic weather services and tracking systems to better assist poorer nations in forecasting and coping with extreme weather.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether this is money that has already been promised in other aid packages.

“It’s for the developed world to give money and technical support, and it’s for the developing countries to receive”, Javadekar said adding that it’s because “they have it” and the developing countries are the “have nots”. USA negotiators in Paris are trying to lead the world toward a climate agreement.

Despite the significant gaps on critical issues, the talks were boosted yesterday by the announcement of an alliance between the European Union and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

To seal an elusive deal by Friday’s deadline, the ministers are racing to resolve a handful of stubborn disputes that have blocked the path to a universal climate pact for more than 20 years.

The event was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; France’s Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and Energy Ségolène Royal; and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. We really do feel like we are at a turning point as so many non-state actors are aligning themselves with government policies.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: The U.S.is different from numerous other countries here.

“This is the first time the French fingerprints will be on the process, and that’s a risky business”, said Dr Diarmuid Torney from Dublin City University, who is an observer at these talks.

A man, no name given, listens to Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene nation, Northern Canada delivering a statement on the emergency of global warning political reactions during a demonstration to support indigenous at the COP21, U…

He also called upon the negotiators to come out with a transparent and robust monitoring mechanism to ensure that promises made by every country, for changes to be brought in their emissions or emission intensites must be set up. Roughly two-thirds of the work on the update was inherited from the past administration, especially 13 work plans that make up the most concrete initiatives.

The unexpected dip could either be a temporary blip or true hope that the world is about to turn the corner on carbon pollution as climate talks continue in Paris, said the authors of a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. The conference wraps up this Friday.