World leaders are
"quite close" to reaching a deal to fight climate change when they
meet in Paris from Monday, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, Europe's first
Green party head of state, said, adding any deal should be legally binding. Vejonis urged
participants at the U.N. summit in Paris from Nov. 30-Dec. 11 to avoid
repeating the failure of the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, which he
attended as environment minister.
"I
hope that in Paris all countries' leaders will agree on this legally binding
document," he told Reuters.
Reuters report continues:
Asked
about opposition from some countries including the United States to a legally
binding treaty, he said: "The final decision will take until probably Dec.
11-12 but it seems that all countries understand, including the U.S., that
there are goals that they want to reach during the next years and all countries
are reducing emissions.
"It
means we are quite close to such an accord and a new Kyoto agreement, which
would be a Paris agreement, hopefully will be reached," he told Reuters,
referring to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that set mandatory limits on greenhouse
gas emissions for industrialized countries.
France said on Saturday
almost all governments had outlined plans for fighting global warming beyond
2020 in a step towards resolving obstacles to an agreement at the summit.
Key Sticky Points In UN Climate Talks
Some
180 countries have already presented plans to cut or rein in their climate-warming
greenhouse gas emissions.
That's
a huge step forward for the U.N. climate talks but a host of difficult issues
remain to be resolved before a new climate agreement can be adopted in Paris.
Here
are some of the most important ones:
___
THE
FIREWALL
The
previous climate treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, divided the world into
developed and developing countries and only required the former to cut their
greenhouse gas emissions.
The
U.S., the European Union and other developed countries say this time all
countries must chip in and that the rich-poor firewall is outdated anyway since
it classifies countries like Qatar, the wealthiest country on Earth per capita,
as developing.
Even
though almost all countries are in practice moving into a new era by presenting
their own emissions pledges, India and many others want the Paris agreement to
state clearly that the developed countries have a bigger responsibility to
fight global warming.
Expect
the biggest fights in Paris to be around this issue, which may very well be the
last one to get resolved.
___
FINANCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
Even
if the agreement required all countries to cut their emissions, many countries
wouldn't be able to do so without help.
Developing
countries need money and technology to make the switch to clean energy sources
like solar and wind power. They are also asking for money to adapt to climate
change, which would continue for decades even if emissions were to stop today.
The
developed countries are willing to help but reluctant to make firm commitments.
They also want to expand the pool of donors to include the most advanced
developing countries like China — again challenging the firewall.
___
AMERICAN
HURDLE
Coming
into Paris many countries including the European Union are insisting on a
legally binding agreement.
The
U.S. has a problem with that because an international treaty imposing emissions
limits on the U.S. isn't likely to be approved by the Republican-controlled
Congress.
Negotiators
are trying to find a compromise where parts of the deal area binding and
others, such as the emissions targets, are not. That may allow President Barack
Obama to approve the deal without going to Congress.
But
those who want a strong deal are worried this would mean the agreement has no
teeth. Others say the rest of the world can't be expected to adjust the
agreement to the political situation in one country.
___
LONG-TERM
GOAL
Many
countries want the deal to include a long-term goal that spells out what it is
they are trying to accomplish.
How
to spell that out has proven very difficult.
Big
oil producers like Saudi Arabia don't want language that suggests fossil fuels
have to be phased out.
The
current draft of the agreement contains multiple options, including
"decarbonization of the global economy" or achieving "climate
neutrality" or "net zero emissions" by 2050 or later. That means
no more emissions than the world can naturally absorb.
___
LOSS
AND DAMAGE
Small
island nations who are particularly vulnerable to climate change say there
needs to be a mechanism in a Paris agreement that deals with climate impacts
that they cannot fully adapt to, such as rising seas and more devastating
storms.
This
issue, called loss and damage, makes the U.S. and other wealthy countries
uncomfortable because they worry it's going to pave the way for claims of
compensation and liability from countries ravaged by climate-related disasters.
Expect a tussle in Paris
between the small islands and the rich nations on how to reflect loss and
damage in the Paris agreement, including whether to mention it all in the core
agreement.
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