Final Paris Agreement to be Ready Saturday AM
At 5:40 local time Friday #COP21 President Laurent Fabius announces his last text will be ready Saturday morning, for final decision around noon.
CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING
Paris Climate Talks – Reactions to New Dec 10 Text
Things are moving faster than expected, debate continues overnight with hopes of a final agreement ready to be voted on late Friday. We’ll see. Remember this is a consensus process, one country can hold up the rest.
It is slightly longer with about 50 brackets – down from 150 to 200.
Some reactions in the order they were made:
“The standard of any effective climate policy is clear: does it keep fossil fuels in the ground and accelerate a just transition to 100% renewable energy?
The commitments we are seeing in the text are a start, but they won’t get the job done, so activists are already mobilizing to close the gap between rhetoric and reality.”
— Payal Parekh, 350.org Global Managing Director
At first glance happy with new COP21 draft – target ‘well below 2C’ and ’emissions neutrality’ in 2050-2100 both ambitious but achievable
— Corinne Le Quéré (@clequere)
$100bn confirmed as rich nations’ floor in new draft Paris #COP21 text. Left – today Right – yesterday
— Simon Evans (@DrSimEvans)
#Oceans #biodiversity & “Mother Earth” out of #brackets in Preamble #update #UNFCCC #COP21
— Paris Agreement News (@ParisAgreement)
Binding part of new #climate agreement draft no longer includes #humanrights – that is going to upset a lot of people
— Megan Rowling @meganrowlin
I see “people in vulnerable situations and under occupation” remains… here’s why that’s a little tricky: http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/12/07/israel-palestine-conflict-seeps-into-paris-climate-talks-in-human-rights-row/ …
— Edward King
As I’ve been saying, addition of 1.5C wording is about recognizing harm to small islands and other countries #COP21 pic.twitter.com/Cw4Di5dtGz
Simon Donner (@simondonner)
3rd draft is out. No liability/compensation. Adriano Campolina of @ActionAid called it “draft deal that denies the world justice”
— Stella Paul (@stellasglobe)
By including a clause for no future claim of compensation and liability, the US has ensured people suffering from the disastrous impacts of climate change will never be able to seek the justice owed to them.
This unfair and unjust draft deal won’t face up to the realities of climate change and will only serve to widen the chasm between rich and poor.Rich countries have a responsibility to ensure a fair global deal for everyone, not just themselves, and as we move into these final hours of negotiations poorer countries must not settle for anything less.
— Adriano Campolina, ActionAid Chief Executive
New #COP21 text is remarkably streamlined. But big issues on target, differentiation (funding) & transparency still open. Important progress
— Simon Lewis (@SimonLLewis)
First published on the Climate News Mosaic Paris Climate Talks Live Blog available here:
Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
Earth Journalism (International)
Watson (Switzerland)
Skeptical Science (International)
Paris Climate Talks – New Text Now, Final On Track for Friday
“I think I will be able to present final text tomorrow,” he said.
Paris Climate Talks – Science Behind Need for 1.5C
Humans have enjoyed 10,000 years of climate stability, in which the global average temperature varied less than one degree C – even during the Little Ice Age.
This heating will be wildly uneven with the Arctic warming 2-3 times faster. In 1.5C world much of the far north will be 4.0C. Canada is already 1.6 to 1.8 C warmer today.
Large parts of Africa including the African Sahel, including the Horn of Africa, are very vulnerable to any increase in temperatures. Even with 1.5C large portions of the Arctic and Antarctic will continue to melt raising sea levels, albeit at a slower rate threatening the very existence of some small islands states.
Delay in making the shift to non-fossil fuel energy sources will be very costly. Waiting until 2020 to curb global emissions will cost twice as much compared with peaking emissions by 2015 various analysis have shown.
There are enormous benefits if global emissions decline before 2020. Failure to do so will mean we will need to use more nuclear, massive amounts of bioenergy, large-scale carbon capture and storage
- Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Switzerland’s Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science
Paris Climate Talks – Update & Key Disputes
Late Wednesday night for over 3 hours dozens of countries’ stated the draft Paris Agreement is a great start but… x, y and z need fixing.
And so informal groups are meeting overnight to find compromises on a number of key issues. In the morning a new revised draft Paris Agreement will be released. There will still be bracketed issue.
Expect negotiations to go into the weekend.
Key Issues in Dispute
* Developing countries want a strong and separate article for the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts
* Finance – who’s going to pay and by when. More $$ from rich nations will be needed
* Differentiation – who has to do what
* Ambition – what’s the long-term temperature goal
* Response measures -what to do when measures to address climate change hurt fossil fuel-dependent economies ie Saudi Arabia
- Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
- DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
- Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
- Earth Journalism (International)
- Watson (Switzerland)
- Skeptical Science (International)
Paris Climate Talks: Illegal March Sat – Start of “Red Line” Global Protests
Breaking: Climate March Planned for Paris this Saturday, at noon <
According to 350.org “thousands of people will gather in the streets of Paris carrying red flowers to honour past and future victims of climate change”.
Marches are illegal in Paris under current security measures. Where people will gather and march is being kept a secret.Details will be posted here
Oganizers say they plan to unfurl over 100 meters of red fabric to form a giant red line down a major boulevard. The flowers will include more than 5,000 red tulips that will be laid down along the line.
This “Red Lines” action is the launch of a new wave of what some activists call “climate disobedience,” civil disobedience actions that challenge the fossil fuel industry, often at major infrastructure projects like coal mines or pipelines.
On Thursday, campaigners at COP21 will announce a major mobilization planned for May 2016 called “Break Free,” when people around the world will take on some of the worst fossil fuel projects in their region.
Protests Escalate in Paris: Beginning of “Red Lines” Protests
10 Arrested at Louvre Wednesday
Sit down protest inside COP 21 ongoing
Police remove protestors at “Solutions 21” event in Paris
Paris Climate Talks – Breaking: Options for Global Target 1.5C
Final President’s Draft Just Released
Parties will review this new next and reconvene the plenary at 8 pm CET to figure out how to resolve the remaining contested issues.
On the Contentious Issue of 1.5 vs 2.0C
— 3 options still to debate — see below
Paris Climate Talks – Final Draft Deadline Wednesday 1 pm CET
Paris Accord Final Draft Due WednesdayFabius still believes that the Accord can be finalized and voted on by Friday 6 pm.
The US and other countries are very concerned this may open the door to liability claims.
- Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
- DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
- Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
- Earth Journalism (International)
- Watson (Switzerland)
- Skeptical Science (International)
Paris Climate Talks – Fossil Fuel Subsidies Called “Absurd”
“A price on carbon and fossil fuel subsidies are two opposing forces.” — Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency Credit: IISD
Only 3% of Fossil Fuel Subsidies reaches the poorest 20% of households, said Felipe Calderón, Chair, Global Commission on Economy and Climate. As often claimed these subsidies do not help poor families nor improve energy access he said.
A few more comments and some startling facts:
The carbon price in Europe is approximately US$10, yet incentives for fossil fuel use, equate to a global average of US$110 per tonne of carbon…an “absurd situation” …
— Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Association (IEA)
Each hour, US$8 million is spent on Fossil Fuel Subsidies
–Scott Vaughan, President, IISD
Fossil Fuel Subsidies amount to five times the global annual climate finance commitment of US$100 billion.
— Børge Brende, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway
…partial phase out of Fossil Fuel Subsidies would generate 12 percent of the global abatement needed by 2020 to achieve a 2ºC pathway.
— Doris Leuthard, Head, Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Switzerland
First published on the Climate News Mosaic Paris Climate Talks Live Blog available here:
- Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
- DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
- Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
- Earth Journalism (International)
- Watson (Switzerland)
- Skeptical Science (International)
Paris Climate Talks – Short Cut to Success?
Comité de Paris Reveals Significant Disagreements RemainIt is comprised of 14 ministers from various countries have split the draft accord into four key issues . Monday night facilitators reported mostly progress and good will.
However when the floor was opened some countries raised questions and concerns about both the contents of the draft agreement and the openness and transparency of the Comité de Paris process. This included requests for more detailed word by word negotiation.
However a final draft must be completed in 48 hours reminded Laurent Fabius, COP 21 President.
It is unlikely that all contested issues will be sorted by end of day Tuesday say observers.
“A line by line negotiation is not feasible” –Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, European Commission representing the EU said late Monday evening.
Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist 