Paris conference: In final lap, climate breakthrough in sight

Representatives of Native American tribes pose for a picture duirng an event for media to draw attention on the indigenous lifestyle, in Paris, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.

Ministers from around the world are starting work on securing a new global climate deal at the talks in Paris after negotiators agreed a draft of the agreement, which aims to curb temperature rises and avoid risky climate change, over the weekend.

Astalks on global warming have entered their final week, US Secretary of State John Kerry has reached Paris to take part in the climate change Conference.

As the United Nations talks outside Paris reached their midway point, the 48-page draft agreement was sent along to environment and foreign ministers who will work on it next week. Developing countries have so far been rejecting any such proposal, citing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that mandates a group of 25 rich and industrialised countries only to provide climate finance.

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.

Four laborious years in the making, the envisaged post-2020 Paris accord will revolutionise the world’s energy industry, replacing coal, oil and gas with cleaner sources that do not emit heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

These brackets chart the different options available in a possible final agreement, often allowing for a choice between an ambitious path – such as the world completely moving away from fossil fuels by 2050 – and one riddled with political compromise – such as countries doing as much as they think they can, but without an overarching target.

“It is time to get rid of this rigid differentiation between developed and developing in a way that prevents us from maximising our progress going forward”, he said.

The EU has been among the most outspoken advocates of binding targets.

The conference in the French capital crowns more than two decades of obstacle-strewn negotiations to curb climate change, which threatens to make Earth increasingly hostile to human existence.

The UN chief further called on the participants to help “translate this historic call for action into a durable, dynamic, credible and fair climate agreement”, adding, “Paris must put the world on track for long-term peace, stability and prosperity”.

Many countries are therefore pushing for a legally-binding agreement, which will force countries to act on climate change. Third, developed countries must agree to lead, and developing countries need to assume increasing responsibility in line with their capabilities.

One of the biggest challenges may well be fatigue, especially for the poorer countries who have small teams of negotiators trying to cover many meetings.

According to that logic, the West is responsible for the peaking levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in China, Beijing issued its first ever red alert for smog, urging schools to close and invoking restrictions on factories and traffic. However, a week still remains to try and tie together a binding deal that will actually limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. The draft, however, sets 2024 as the earliest date of such a reappraisal.

Tuvalu, an island nation of fewer than 10,000 in Pacific Ocean halfway between Australia and Hawaii, would be threatened with extinction, said Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga.

The statement said that addressing climate change requires a deep transformation of local economic development models.

The Compact of Mayors is the best insurance we have against backsliding by central governments, and it’s the best hope we have – along with technological innovation – for accelerating the pace of change in every region of the world over the next five years.

“‘What did you do?’ The same question will be asked of you”.