France’s Hollande set to attend unveiling of draft climate deal

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top officials shuttled among high-stakes meetings all day Friday in hopes of coming to a final agreement on Saturday.

A participant delivers a speech exposing the rise of the sea levels due to the rise in temperature in the US Center, during the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, December 11, 2015.

Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar also said differentiation was the biggest dispute and accused developed countries of not showing enough flexibility in the talks.

The U.N. climate conference, which began on November 30, has brought representatives from almost 200 nations to Paris in the hope of hammering out an global agreement on climate action.

Negotiators from more than 190 countries are aiming to create something that’s never been done before: an agreement for all countries to reduce man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and helping the poorest adapt to rising seas, fiercer weather and other impacts of global warming.

They also warn against failures to spell out how much to cut greenhouse gases and by when, thus providing key markers on the path towards the targets. Delegations then had a few hours to study it before it goes to a plenary meeting for eventual adoption.

The issue of transparency became a major sticking point between the United States and China.

“The Paris deal is not just about reducing emissions, but also about protecting vulnerable places and people”, he said.

Le Bourget: A landmark climate change deal was tonignt clinched with the approval of India, China and the USA, after days of tough negotiations here with the legally-binding pact seeking to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius and committing United States dollars 100 billion a year from 2020 to help developing nations.

Another major debate has been over a promise that developed nations should provide $100 billion to help poorer nations deal with the consequences of climate change. “Faced with climate change our destinies are bound together”.

Activists plan protests Saturday across Paris to call attention to populations threatened by melting glaciers, rising seas and expanding deserts linked to climate change.

“This puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history”, said Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace.

“Finally the world stands united against the central environmental challenge of our time, committed to cutting the carbon pollution that’s driving climate change”, she said. “This deal alone won’t dig us out of the hole we’re in”.

Thousands of protesters demonstrated across Paris, saying the accord is too weak to save the planet. The talks are a product of more than two decades of political wrangling among the world’s nations.

The final text of the Paris Agreement – considered to be the world’s first universal climate agreement – is 31 pages long.

If approved, the deal would cap eight years of discussions on how to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the first treaty to limit the emissions that are driving up temperatures.

“It is my conviction that we have come up with an ambitious… agreement”, Fabius said, telling the ministers they would achieve a “historic turning point” for the world if they endorsed it. “We need all our hands on deck”, Ban added.

The talks were initially scheduled to end Friday.

“Now is the time for us to seize the opportunity of a brighter, low-carbon and climate-resilient future”.

More than 180 countries have already presented plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions- a breakthrough in itself after years of stalemate.

The deal now needs to be ratified by individual governments – at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions – before taking effect.

Developing nations have insisted richer countries must take the lion’s share of the responsibility and efforts, as they have emitted the most greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.