MISSEDLINK

nearly 200 Nations sign in End of Fossil Fuel Era - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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• "governments have signalled an end to the fossil fuel era"

 

 

 

 

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• "committing for the first time to a universal agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "after 20 years of fraught meetings, including the past two weeks spent in an exhibition hall on the outskirts of Paris"

 

 

 

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• "negotiators from nearly 200 countries signed on to a legal agreement on Saturday evening that set ambitious goals to limit temperature rises and to hold governments to account for reaching those targets"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the agreement, which set a new goal to reach net zero emissions in the second half of the century"

 

 

 

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• "sent a powerful signal hastening the transition away from fossil fuels and to a clean energy economy"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "after last-minute delays, caused by typos, mistranslations and disagreements over a single verb in the highly complicated legal text"

 

 

 

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• "Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, brought down a special leaf-shaped gavel to adopt the agreement"

 

 

 

 

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• "it is a small gavel but I think it can do a great job"

 

 

 

 

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• "the hall erupted in applause and cheers"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the agreement was equally a victory for the United Nations, which spent four years overcoming political inertia and the deep divisions between rich and poor countries, to put together the ambitious deal"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "six years after the chaotic ending of the Copenhagen climate summit, the agreement now known as the Paris Agreement for the first time commits rich countries, rising economies and some of the poorest countries"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "to work together to curb emissions"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "rich countries agreed to raise US$ 100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries transform their economies"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the overall agreement is legally binding, but some elements"

 

 

 

 

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• "including the pledges to curb emissions by individual countries and the climate finance elements - are not"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the deal set a high aspirational goal to limit warming below 2C"

 

 

 

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• "and strive to keep temperatures at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels - a far more ambitious target than expected, and a key demand of vulnerable countries"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it incorporates commitments from 187 countries to reduce emissions, which on their own would only hold warming to between 2.7C and 3C"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "scientists say 2.7C of warming would have catastrophic consequences, including rises in sea level that would inundate low-lying regions and islands"

 

 

 

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• "reductions in cropland, and ocean acidification that would severely damage coral reefs"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• "supporters said the negotiations took a significant step forward in getting countries to act together on a global challenge of immense complexity"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but critics said the agreement would still condemn hundreds of million of people living in low-lying coastal areas"

 

 

 

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• "after US negotiators demanded the exclusion of language that could allow the agreement to be used to claim legal liability for climate change"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the French hosts won praise from negotiators for using a mixture of informal huddles, or "indabas", and traditional shuttle diplomacy to bring the deal home"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the text commits countries to peak greenhouse gas emissions "as soon as possible", and to seek a balance between human-caused emissions and removals by carbon sinks"

 

 

 

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• ""this means bringing down greenhouse gas emissions to net zero within a few decades," said John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but he added that countries would have to move aggressively, peaking before 2030 and eliminating emissions by 2050"

 

 

 

 

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• "e.g. through reforestation"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "given intense pressure from oil-producing countries, negotiators managed to craft a text that was far more ambitious than expected"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "all the countries agreed on five-year reviews of their emissions reductions"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Paris Climate Agreement - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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• "François Hollande, the French President, appealed to negotiators to approve the 31-page text, and said countries had a rare chance to make history"

 

 

 

 

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• "we are at a decisive point in time"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it’s an outpouring of emotion inside the plenary hall. People are weeping and celebrating, hugging and exchanging kisses, weeping freely"

 

 

 

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• "Fabius (French Foreign Minister) is happy. And so he deserves to be - this is an achievement many thought would be impossible"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he is now thanking all those who helped reach this historic agreement"

 

 

 

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• "Hollande and Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General) are hugging Figueres (UN Climate Chief) and Tubiana"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "Hollande has joined everyone on the platform, holding hands in the air with Figueres, Fabius and the other dignatories on stage, as they receive continued applause"

 

 

 

 

 

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• ""you have to gavel," we can hear Figueres telling Fabius"

 

 

 

 

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• "it’s a small gavel but I think it can do a great job"

 

 

 

 

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• "jokes Fabius, as he brings the gavel down, signalling the deal has been done"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "Figueres and Fabius are both giving double thumps up to the assembled delegates, and smiling from ear to ear. In the next few days they are likely to get a lot of the credit for this deal"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• ""I call to order the 11th sesion of the 21st COP," says Fabius"

 

 

 

 

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• "I now invite the COP to adopt the document the Paris Agreement, I see no objections"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the Paris Agreement is adopted"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "we have a deal !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the atmosphere is very excited here and people are rushing up to embrace each other warmly. Lots of animated chatter as we wait to begin. People seem noticeably more relaxed than at previous plenaries"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• "the final text is stronger than most people anticipated"

 

 

 

 

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• "but as the preamble to the agreement acknowledges, even 2C, in view of the weak promises governments brought to Paris"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "is wildly ambitious"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• US Climate Professor Corinne Le Quéré: "the final text recognises the imperatives of the science community to tackle climate change"

 

 

 

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• "the three key elements to do it are there in some form: keep warming well below two degrees"

 

 

 

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• "practically move away from fossil fuels, and review each country’s contribution every five years so they scale up to the challenge"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the emissions cuts promised by countries now are still wholly insufficient"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but the agreement as a whole sends a strong message to citizens that new energy is clean and fossil fuels belong to the past"

 

 

 

 

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• "there is a lot of work ahead of us to make this happen"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Lalldor Thorgeirsson, director of strategy at the UN Climate Secretariat, says "we are now nearly there"

 

 

 

 

• "we have unity - that is different"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "asked what had been the decisive factor he said there were several, including the growing realisation that dealing with climate change can be "a positive agenda" rather than just a cost"

 

 

 

 

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• "and that there is growing awareness of our vulnerability to the damage if climate change"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Bill McKibben from the campaign group 350.org: "every government seems now to recognize that the fossil fuel era must end"

 

 

 

 

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• "but the power of the fossil fuel industry is reflected in the text, which drags out the transition so far that endless climate damage will be done"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "pace is the crucial question now"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "this agreement didn’t save the planet, but it saved the chance of saving the planet"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "there is no way to meet the targets laid out in this agreement without keeping coal, oil and gas in the ground"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the final text still has some serious gaps: the exclusion of the rights of indigenous peoples, the lack of finance for loss and damage"

 

 

 

 

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• "and while the text recognizes the importance of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees C, the current commitments from countries still add up to well over 3 degrees of warming"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "these are red lines we cannot cross"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• "the French hosts have adopted a traditional South African negotiating format to speed up decision-making and bring opposing countries together in Paris"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "Zulu and Xhosa communities use "indabas""

 

 

 

 

 

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• "to give everyone equal opportunity to voice their opinions in order to work toward consensus"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "they were first used in UN climate talks in 2011 when, with the talks deadlocked and the summit just minutes from collapse"

 

 

 

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• "the South African presidency asked the main countries to form a standing circle in the middle of hundreds of delegates and to talk directly to each other"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "instead of repeating stated positions, diplomats were encouraged to talk personally and quietly about their "red lines""

 

 

 

 

 

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• "and to propose solutions to each other"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "by including everyone and allowing often hostile countries to speak in earshot of observers, it achieved a remarkable breakthrough within 30 minutes"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "in Paris the "indaba" format was used by France to narrow differences between countries behind closed doors"

 

 

 

 

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• "it is said to have rapidly slimmed down a ballooning text with hundreds of potantial points of disagreements"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it is a very effective way to streamline negotiations and bridge differences"

 

 

 

 

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• "it has the advantage of being participatory yet fair"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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what's new in the text:

• "a 5 year "stocktake" of how countries are doing on their climate plans, with the first happening in 2023"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• ""loss and damage", a mechanism for addressing the financial losses vulnerable countries face from climate impacts such as extreme weather"

 

 

 

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• "the language is such that the US should be happy: "it does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation""

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "a request for countries to revisit their national climate plans in 2018, before they come into affect post-2020"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Fabius: "history is coming, in fact history is here"

 

 

 

 

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• "we are in the home stretch - there will be no postponement - the decisive deal for the planet is here"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "all the nations of the world, it is up to you to decide this"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "on 12 December 2015 we can have a historic day, a major date to go down in the history of mankind"

 

 

 

 

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• "the date can become a message of life"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "so ladies and gentlemen, France asks you, calls upon you, to adopt the first universal agreement on climate"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "he tells delegates they have the chance to change the world, so the planet and mankind may live a long time - and finishes to much applause"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Ban Ki-moon: "I commend you all for submitting your national climate plans"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the countries’ national interests will not be served if they ignore the collective interest"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "we have come to a defining moment on a long journey that dates back decades"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "let us now finish the job. The whole world is watching"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Fabius: "one of us the other day reminded us of Nelson Mandela’s sentence:"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "it always seems impossible until it’s done"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "I wish to add some other words to that, words spoken by the same hero:"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "none of us acting alone can be successful"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "success is built collectively"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the world is holding its breath. It’s counting on all of us"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "here in Paris there is a certain momentum, particularly in connection with mobilising civil society"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "this is a positive environment, this type of planetary configuration has never been as good as today"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "our responsbility to history is immense"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Climate Agreement: key Points - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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• "governments have agreed to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels: something that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago"

 

 

 

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• "there is a scientific rationale for the number. John Schellnhuber, a scientist who advises Germany and the Vatican"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "says 1.5C marks the point where there is a real danger of serious "tipping points" in the world’s climate"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but bear in mind we’ve already hit 1C, and recent data shows no sign of a major fall in the global emissions driving the warming"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "as many of the green groups here in Paris note, the 1.5C aspiration is meaningless"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "if there aren’t measures for hitting it"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "before the conference started, more than 180 countries had submitted pledges to cut or curb their carbon emissions (the so-called intended nationally defined contributions, or INDCs)"

 

 

 

 

 

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• "these are not sufficient to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond 2C"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "in fact they would lead to a 2.7C rise or higher"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the INDCs are recognised under the agreement, but are not legally binding"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the countries pledged "to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century""

 

 

 

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• "that means getting to "net zero emissions" between 2050 and 2100"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "187 countries have put forward their plans for how to cut and curb their emissions beyond 2020, as far out as 2030"

 

 

 

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• "but those pledges are not enough to keep warming below 2C, beyond which climate change is expected to have catastrophic impacts"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "that’s why the text has a review mechanism to ramp up those pledges every five years"

 

 

 

 

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• "the first stocktake will happen in 2018, but the first one under the deal happens in 2023"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• "the deal includes loss and damage, a mechanism for addressing the financial losses vulnerable countries face from climate impacts such as extreme weather"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "but it also includes a clause that will keep the US happy - that it won’t face financial claims from vulnerable countries hit by climate change:"

 

 

 

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• "it does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "finance to help developing countries adapt to climate change and transition to clean energy was an important sticking point in the negotiations"

 

 

 

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• "this part of the deal has been moved into the non-legally binding "decision text""

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "the countries intend to continue their existing collective mobilisation goal through 2025"

 

 

 

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• "that means the flow of US$ 100bn a year will continue beyond 2020"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• "by 2025 the agreement undertakes to improve on that "from a floor of US$ 100bn""

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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