Negotiators in 11-day race to reach landmark climate deal

LE BOURGET (France) — A day after world leaders pledged to tame global warming, negotiators embarked yesterday on a 11-day race to resolve decades-long disputes and reach an international accord to tackle climate change.

“You have now started the fundamental work,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told negotiators, who must now shape a labyrinthine 54-page text into a blueprint that can be approved by Dec 11. “I implore you to advance on the substance in a way that allows us to respect the strong mandate given by the diverse heads of state and government yesterday.”

The goal — endorsed ringingly by world leaders at the start of the talks on Monday — is to commit every nation to a post-2020 pact to roll back emissions of carbon gases. Scientists have long warned that time is running out to wean humanity off its dependence on burning fossil fuels, the backbone of the world’s energy supply and biggest source of these heat-trapping emissions.

The talks, held at a heavily secured conference centre at Le Bourget on the northern outskirts of Paris, headed into the detail phase after the verbal flourishes of Monday, when around 150 leaders gathered for the biggest one-day summit in United Nations history.

United States President Barack Obama yesterday met the heads of small-island states, who are among the nations most at threat from climate change. “Some of their nations could disappear entirely as weather patterns change,” he said. “We might deal with tens of millions of climate refugees in the Asia Pacific region.”

More than two decades of UN climate negotiations have left veteran observers sceptical about the kind of high-flown rhetoric heard on Monday.

Climate diplomacy touches the live- wire of national interests, among users and sellers of fossil fuels, especially among countries keen to use cheap and plentiful energy to power their growth. Divisions quickly emerged in Paris on Monday, as leaders of developing nations hit out at rich countries for perceived hypocrisy in making demands to use fewer fossil fuels after carbon-burning their way to prosperity.

“The prosperous still have a strong carbon footprint and the world’s billions at the bottom of the development ladder are seeking space to grow,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who refuses to commit his country to abandon its coal resources to power economic development.

In an effort to bridge the diplomatic divide between rich and poor, French President Francois Hollande yesterday promised to invest €8 billion (S$12 billion) over the next five years to renewable energy in Africa and increase Africans’ access to electricity.

The announcement was made after he met 12 African leaders to discuss the threats from climate change, including coastal erosion, advancing deserts and rivers that are drying up.

More than 180 countries have pledged to cut or curb their emissions, but scientists say more significant reductions are needed to limit man-made warming of the Earth to 2°C over pre-industrial times, the internationally agreed-upon goal. AGENCIES