The latest draft of the climate agreement in Paris has just been published this morning (NZT).
Parties to the conference will work on the new document overnight in Paris, aiming to have a revised version in the morning. From there it will be a final stretch to have a settled agreement by Saturday.
The debate over whether to aim for limiting global temperatures to a rise of 1.5 or 2 degrees has been apparently settled, with the new text stating an objective to: Hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C, recognizing that this would significantly reduce risks and impacts of climate change.
Negotiators are now heading into closed overnight meetings in Paris, aiming to further settle the points of debate. Speaking to RNZ earlier, New Zealand’s climate change minister Tim Groser said:
“My political sense is that everybody wants a deal and I’m not sure that was the case in Copenhagen, so it looks like chaos but I think I’d call it organised chaos.
“At the end of the day we’re not going to sit down in a room and negotiate a text. What is going on is a giant game of sending signals to the French, who are holding the pen to allow them to make some very fine balancing judgements about the sweet spot on some of the big issues.”
Overnight local coverage includes:
Yahoo NZ News: Nations make final push for climate deal
Otago Daily Times: Final push for climate deal
New Zealand Herald: Sleepless, tense climate negotiators haggle over Paris deal
RNZ: Talks heat up as draft deal delivered
Stuff.co.nz: Climate: US pledges more aid to poor
RNZ International: Pacific nations seek easier access to climate finance
3 News: Climate saving deal within reach – Fabius
In other news:
Two New Zealand youth delegates, Ryan Mearns and Hamish Laing, have been maintaining a google doc documenting as much of the negotiations as possible, sneaking in humorous GIFs and hashtags. Their efforts having been receiving accolades from international online media, including Buzzfeed, Slate and Vice.
Jamie Morton from the New Zealand Herald interviews the key New Zealand players at the conference in Paris. I the final Q&A interview of the ‘Climate of Hope’ series, Jamie also catches up with former Canterbury University researcher Dr Daniel Price.
RNZ’s Chris Bramwell gives a behind a behind the scenes peak at what is really going on at the conference in Paris.