Hollande calls NaMo, apprises him of climate change talks

After a final draft is presented, delegations are expected to spend a few hours studying it before it goes to a plenary meeting for eventual adoption.

French President Francois Hollande called on ministers from some 195 nations attending the conference to take a “decisive” step in adopting the pact.

Meanwhile, protesters in Paris dismissed the draft agreement of climate talks as too weak, saying it is insufficient to protect the planet.

If adopted, the agreement would constitute the first universal climate agreement in history.

The latest, 27-page draft said governments would aim to peak the emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases “as soon as possible” and strive to reach “emissions neutrality” by the second half of the century. PM Modi and Union minister for environment, forests and climate change Prakash Javadekar have said a couple of times on global forums that the lifestyles seen in developed nations are not sustainable and hence they should be discussed during the Paris talks. Another remaining flashpoint issue is how to compensate developing nations that will be worst hit by climate change but are least to blame for it. The developing nations are demanding “loss and damage” provisions which Washington is particularly wary of as it fears they could make United States companies vulnerable to legal challenges for compensation.

Melting glaciers, rising seas and expanding deserts linked to such climate change are threatening populations around the world.

“We have a 1.5-degree wall to climb but the ladder isn’t tall enough”, Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace said at a press conference.

Professor Nigel Arnell, AVOID 2 Lead Scientist from the Walker Institute at the University of Reading, said: “The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) are a start towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, limiting global warming and avoiding harmful impacts on people”.

“I think we’re done here”, Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony De Brum told Reuters, expressing hopes for a deal.

Some of the delegates had pushed for the pact to limit warming even more.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the yet-to-be-released document represented the “best possible balance” between the priorities of all countries, rather rich or poor, large or small.

“The signals that have come to me give me encouragement that we are going to have a very… comprehensive and strong agreement in Paris”, Sopoaga told the AP. The U.N. has been working for more than two decades to persuade governments to work together to reduce the man-made emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

More than 180 countries have already presented plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions- a breakthrough in itself after years of stalemate. The last emissions treaty, 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only included wealthy countries, and the U-S never signed on.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said America was “teed up” for the pact to be adopted.

A deal in Paris would mark a legacy-defining achievement for US President Barack Obama, who has warned not to “condemn our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair”, and puts to rest the previous climate summit in Copenhagen six years ago, when attempts to agree even deeper carbon curbs failed.

“This agreement nods to the urgent need to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, but the pollution-cutting pledges in this deal won’t get us anywhere near that critical goal”.

Sleep-starved envoys tasked with staving off catastrophic climate change are on track to seal a historic accord the French hosts of United Nations talks said Friday although the biggest pitfalls were yet to be cleared.

Developing nations have insisted established economic powerhouses must shoulder the lion’s share of responsibility as they have emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon on Friday also called on negotiators and ministers to reach a final outcome the Paris climate talks.

The climate conference here has been extended by another day, not for the first time at the conference of parties (CoP) seeking to narrow the difference between the developed and developing nations.

The U.S. resisted legally binding emissions targets, instead pressing for robust transparency rules to make sure countries live up to their commitments.