• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
‘LET’S SUE BIG OIL’: Legal Team Launches Class Action Campaign for B.C. Municipalities June 17, 2022
‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’, Colleague Says, After Brazil Confirms Murders of Bruno Pereira, Dom Phillips June 17, 2022
Infrastructure Gap a ‘Life and Death’ Matter as Northern Canada Warms June 17, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate & Society Carbon Levels & Measurement

‘We Shall Have to Make Choices’ as Paris Seals the End of the Fossil Era

December 11, 2015
Reading time: 4 minutes

Yann Caradec/Flickr

Yann Caradec/Flickr

 

At the close of a marathon negotiating session that ended at 5:40 AM local time, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned delegates to the United Nations climate summit in Paris that “we shall have to make our choices” on the final dimensions of the deal by mid-day Saturday.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Fabius
Wikipedia

As observers parsed the pros and cons of the emerging deal, The Daily Tck declared that “the fossil fuel era ends here in Paris. It will take some years to complete the transition, but this deal will massively accelerate the growth of clean energy infrastructure, scaling the technology we already have and driving further innovation.”

Observed Gerard Wynn on the Energy and Carbon Blog: “Powerful fossil fuel economies such as Saudi Arabia, as well as large developing countries such as China and India, might attempt to dilute a commitment to phase out greenhouse gas emissions. But a collapse of the talks appeared unlikely, given that the French hosts received so much support from world leaders at the launch of the conference last week.”

Outside the negotiating area, where delegates were expected to spend the day in private negotiations, activity at the Le Bourget conference centre north of Paris was off to a slow start Friday morning. After 11 days of intense discussions, workshops, research releases, funding announcements, rallies, lobbying, and arm-twisting, there was very little left for the majority of COP 21 participants to do until the final text is released Saturday morning.

Informal conversations were already turning to the front-line advocacy that will be needed after everyone gets home: To build on the gains in the Paris Agreement, and to fill the gaps between the level of ambition in the final deal and the need to keep average global warming below 1.5°C, decarbonize the global economy by 2050, and deliver financing and technology transfer for the countries and regions most vulnerable to climate change.

Observers’ analysis onsite showed a balance between the advances at this year’s climate summit and the work that still lies ahead. “There are many important impacts of this deal,” the Tck reported Friday at 2 AM local time, and “the latest draft agreement shows significant progress since yesterday.” The agreement itself topped the list of achievements.

“195 countries, the world, has committed to tackling climate change, and they have all done it together,” Wiese wrote. “Almost every country made a contribution in the run-up to this meeting, and that spirit of constructive cooperation has pervaded this meeting.” For years, developing countries have wanted a global climate agreement to recognize developed countries’ historical responsibility for the vast majority of atmospheric emissions. “But every country now acknowledges that all countries, big and small, rich and poor, have to act if we are to avoid further dangerous interference with the climate system.”

The agreement is considered ambitious, with an objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero this century and making a transition to 100% clean energy by mid-century, Wiese adds. The latest draft is “fair, fairly ambitious, and creates the platform we need for the final Paris Agreement,” partly because “everyone has won something significant in getting this far.”

Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony De Brum pointed to “a clear recognition that the world must work towards limiting warming to below 1.5°C, and that it would be much safer to do so. With this, I would be able to go home and tell my people that our chance for survival is not lost.”

But Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute, among many others, warned that the deal isn’t done yet. “The big question is which leaders are going to step forward to grasp this moment and make the agreement both fair and ambitious,” she said. “Ten days ago, leaders came to Paris calling for a strong climate agreement. Now those leaders need to start picking up the phone and work together to turn those words into action.”

Other observers pointed to several positives, including a commitment to five-year reviews of countries’ carbon reduction commitments, the long-term goal of greenhouse gas emissions neutrality, the reference to the 1.5° target in the operational text of the agreement, a five-year cycle beginning in 2023 to take stock of climate change mitigation and finance efforts, and a floor of $100 billion per year for climate finance to developing and vulnerable countries.

“The current draft could be stronger, but the door is still open to increase ambition over time,” said Tasneem Essop of WWF International. “The negotiating text now includes a goal of keeping us well below 2°C of warming, and a reference to a 1.5°C temperature limit,” but “there is a huge problem with the options for loss and damage” for countries vulnerable to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. “The current options provide no hope for people who will suffer the impacts of climate change the hardest.”

In its overnight newsletter, ECO, Climate Action Network International urged negotiators to:

  • Set a course for “full decarbonization, with no tricks (like non-permanent offsetting and geoengineering)” as a path to full emissions neutrality in the second half of the century
  • Affirm that all countries will “respect the Convention in full,” while acknowledging historical responsibility for GHG emissions and differences in countries’ economic conditions
  • Commit to “finally end all fossil fuel subsidies, stop financing carbon-intensive investments, or indeed commit to divestment”
  • Begin updating and strengthening countries’ five-year carbon reduction commitments as soon as the agreement goes into force in 2020
  • Resolve a largely mythical dispute over liability and compensation for loss and damage
  • Embrace transparency over countries’ compliance with the agreement
  • Entrench a commitment to human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights in Article 2, “the heart of the agreement”.



in Carbon Levels & Measurement, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, COP Conferences, Ending Emissions, Environmental Justice, First Peoples, International, Jurisdictions

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

David/flickr
United States

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1
pxhere
Environmental Justice

Environmental Racism Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Commons

June 26, 2022
1
Graco/Facebook
Food Security

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 26, 2022
2

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

The federal government's Cliff Street Power Plant is at the centre of Ottawa's plans to reduce natural gas demand. Photo: PWGSC

EXCLUSIVE: Ontario Regulator Refuses New Pipeline, Tells Enbridge to Plan for Lower Gas Demand

May 30, 2022
5.2k
Jason Woodhead/Flickr

Trans Mountain Pipeline On Track to Lose $600 Million, Parliamentary Budget Officer Finds

June 24, 2022
341
Ben_Kerckx/Pixabay

Plastics Cited as ‘Fossil Industry’s Plan B’ as Guilbeault Announces Partial Ban

June 24, 2022
219
Bruce Reeve/Flickr

Opinion: Ontario’s New ‘Carbon Tax’ Looks Like the One Doug Ford Fought

June 7, 2022
1.6k
eloialferez66/pixnio

Toronto’s New Backyard Homes Will Help Fight Sprawl

June 24, 2022
70
Greg Goebel/Wikimedia Commons

Canadian Pension Board Invests $141M in Chinese Coal Projects, Undercutting Federal Phaseout Policy

July 29, 2020
2.3k

Recent Posts

David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1
pxhere

Environmental Racism Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Commons

June 26, 2022
1
Graco/Facebook

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 26, 2022
2
stockvault

Animal Agriculture Could Reduce Future Pandemic Risk, UK Researchers Say

June 26, 2022
1
Gustavo Petro Urrego/flickr

Colombia’s President-Elect Has ‘Ambitious’ Plans to Halt Amazon Deforestation

June 26, 2022
1
Adam E. Moreira/wikimedia commons

Suspend Transit Fares, Not Gas Tax, Climate Advocates Urge Biden

June 26, 2022
1
Next Post
Average temperatures at night in tropical regions such as Manaus

Heat of the night’s carbon threat

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}