Roadblock hits climate deal, talks stretched by a day

Negotiations for a climate change deal hit a roadblock on Friday with countries like India and China refusing to yield their ground on emissions and funding, stretching the high-stakes talks by a day to wrap up a highly-elusive deal.

Mounting hectic last-minute efforts, Secretary of State John Kerry met Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, the third interaction in three days, as India has demanded that developed countries like the US should shoulder more of the cost that countries face in adapting to the effects of climate change.

Diplomats from 195 countries attending the Conference of Parties (CoP) are grappling with how to resolve differences over crucial issues, which are very dear to the developing nations but could not reach a deal before the self-imposed deadline of tonight.

Despite the apprehensions of a repeat of the 2009 Copenhagen Summit that failed miserably, hosts France struck an optimistic note, saying “we are nearly there”.

China was resisting calls, led by the US and the European Union, for all nations to review and update their national plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions every five years and had also reasserted demands that developed nations do far more to curb greenhouse gas emissions, sources said.

“We are nearly there. I’m optimistic,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters accompanied by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“I’ll present a text on Saturday at 0900 (0800 GMT) to the parties that I’m sure will be adopted.”

“We had a very constructive meeting. We made a lot of progress. Progress made last night, a long night, but there’s still a couple of very difficult issues we’re working on,” he said, after talks with summit host, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

A desperate UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to envoys to take a “final decision for humanity”.

“This negotiation is complicated, most difficult but important for humanity. We have just very limited hours remaining.”

He identified important questions including how to share the burden of cutting down greenhouse-gas emissions between rich and poor nations; how to finance the cost of climate change in developing countries and how ambitious to be in curbing planetary over-heating.Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama on Friday spoke over the phone. China’s state media quoted Xi as saying that China and the US “must strengthen coordination with all parties” and “make joint efforts to ensure the Paris climate summit reaches an accord as scheduled”.

With negotiators breaking into smaller groups in their last-ditch efforts to seal the much-anticipated accord by ironing out differences, the tenseness was evident in the way top leaders zipped in and out of negotiation rooms to avert a repeat of the 2009 Copenhagen summit that failed miserably.

Fabius earlier told local TV channel BFM television that he “will not present the text Friday evening, as I had thought, but Saturday morning”. “There is still work to do...Things are going in the right direction.”  Efforts to reach the final draft agreement to curb greenhouse gases witnessed negotiators burning midnight oil to sort out differences over emissions from coal, oil and gas that could worsen environment for future generations.

Key issues like differentiation, ambition and finance were discussed and efforts were ongoing to reach a consensus.

One of the diplomats said: “Negotiators pushed through a long night of intense talks. Informal discussions will be ongoing throughout the day, with new text expected by on Saturday morning. At this point, time is of the essence.” 

Last night, a new, shorter draft incorporating many key issues raised by countries like India was unveiled after intense negotiations. All-night negotiations failed to mend the rifts that have endured for more than two decades.

Many of the issues raised by India have found its place in the new 27-page draft text - two pages shorter than the previous - but there were topics still to be resolved. There are still considerable difficulties about issues including climate finance and the question of demarcation between developed and developing countries. Key issues which India has raised like “sustainable lifestyle”, principles based on equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities as mentioned in the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) find a place in the draft. Called “differentiation”, richer nations want emerging economies to take on more of the burden of cutting emissions and providing finance to the very poor nations hit by the impacts of rising temperatures.