COP21 draft agreement moves forward toward a global deal

This story appears in the COP21 Paris feature series. View the full series.

by Brian Roewe

NCR environment correspondent

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broewe@ncronline.org

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French leaders here Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 9) released a new, slimmed-down version of a draft agreement to inch negotiations forward toward a global deal to address climate change.

The presentation of a "clean" 29-page draft text came on the 10th day of the U.N. climate change conference, or COP21. The text still harbors numerous bracketed phrases, indicating still up-for-debate issues. Talks were set to continue Wednesday evening with hopes of meeting the Friday evening deadline for a completed deal set by Laurent Fabius, France’s environmental minister and president of COP.

The latest draft presented three options for holding the rise in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels: a rise of either below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), “well below” 2 C, or below 1.5 C. The temperature goals would direct the required cuts in greenhouse emissions.

Read the full story at National Catholic Reporter.

Images
Mercy Sr. Aine O'Connor speaks at an anti-fracking rally outside the main venue of COP21 in France. (NCR photo/Brian Roewe)
Mercy Sr. Aine O'Connor speaks at an anti-fracking rally outside the main venue of COP21 in France. (NCR photo/Brian Roewe)