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11 December 2010 Last updated at 03:40 ET Share this page
UN climate change talks in Cancun close in on deal
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Cancun
Under the deal some countries will escape the extension of emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol
Continue reading the main story UN climate change talks
Agreement at the UN climate summit in Cancun appears to be close, with most delegations hailing compromise texts drawn up by the Mexican hosts.
Bolivia says it will not endorse the texts, but all other nations appear set to approve them.
The draft texts say deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed, but do not establish a mechanism for achieving the pledges countries have made.
It also sets up a fund to help poor countries cope with climate change.
Some countries' resistance to the Kyoto Protocol had been a stumbling block during the final week of negotiations, but diplomats may have found a compromise.
Delegates cheered speeches from governments that had caused the most friction during negotiations - Japan, China, even the US - as one by one they endorsed the draft.
The Green Climate Fund is intended to raise and disburse $100bn (£64bn) a year by 2020 to protect poor nations against climate impacts and assist them with low-carbon development.
A new Adaptation Committee will support countries as they establish climate protection plans.
And parameters for funding developing countries to reduce deforestation are outlined.
But the deal is a lot less than the comprehensive agreement that many countries wanted at last year's Copenhagen summit and continue to seek. It leaves open the question of whether any of its measures, including emission cuts, will be legally binding.
Continue reading the main story Climate change glossary
Select a term to learn more:GlossaryGlossaryAdaptation fund Annex I countries Annex II Anthropogenic climate change Aosis AR4 Atmospheric aerosols Bali action plan Bali roadmap Baseline for cuts Biofuel Black carbon Boxer-Kerry bill Business as usual Cap and trade Carbon capture and storage (CCS) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent Carbon footprint Carbon intensity Carbon leakage Carbon neutral Carbon offsetting Carbon sequestration Carbon sink Certified Emission Reduction (CER) CFCs Clean coal technology Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Climate change CO2 Commitment periodCOP15 Country in transition Dangerous climate change Deforestation Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) EU Burden-sharing agreement Feedback loop Flexible mechanism Fossil fuels G77 Geological sequestration Global average temperature Global energy budget Global dimming Global warming Global Warming Potential (GWP) Greenhouse gases (GHGs) Greenhouse effect Hockey stick IPCC Joint implementation (JI) Kyoto Protocol LDCs LULUCF Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Methane Mitigation Nairobi work programme Natural greenhouse effect Non-annex I countries Ocean acidification Per-capita emissions ppm (350/450) Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide Renewable energy REDD Stern review Technology transfer Tipping point Twenty-twenty-twenty (20-20-20) UNFCCC Waxman-Markey bill Weather
Suggest additions
Glossary in full
"Overall, we've moved on from Copenhagen - we can leave that ghost behind - it's another mood, another tone," said Tara Rao, senior policy adviser with environmental group WWF.
"There's enough in it that we can work towards next year's meeting in South Africa to get a legally binding agreement there."
And Dean Bialek, an adviser to the Marshall Islands, described the draft deal as "a game-changer".
"The multilateral climate regime is now back on track," he said.
"A new legally binding deal to complement the Kyoto Protocol by covering all major emitters is now well within sight."
Turning Japan The final day of the two-week summit had dawned with low expectations of a deal.
Continue reading the main story CANCUN CLIMATE SUMMIT
Small island states are looking at ways to evacuate their entire populations, says UN chief
But ministers conducted intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy to formulate texts that all parties could live with.
Russia and Japan have secured wording that leaves them a possible route to escape extension of the Kyoto Protocol's legally binding emission cuts, while strongly implying that the protocol has an effective future - a key demand of developing countries.
The Green Climate Fund will initially use the World Bank as a trustee - as the US, EU and Japan had demanded - while giving oversight to a new body balanced between developed and developing countries.
Developing countries will have their emission-curbing measures subjected to international verification only when they are funded by Western money - a formulation that seemed to satisfy both China, which had concerns on such verification procedures, and the US, which had demanded them.
"What we have now is text that while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward," said Todd Stern, the US climate envoy.
"So let us do what it takes to get this deal done and put the world on a path to a low emission and more sustainable pathway."
Mr Stern's comments marked the first time in many years that a US delegate has been cheered to the rafters of a UN climate convention hall.
Bolivia, though, found faults both with elements of the deal and with the way the texts were constructed through private conversations between small groups of countries.
"What concerns us most is that a list is going to be drawn up [of emission-cutting pledges countries have made], and it will not be commitments under the Kyoto Protocol," said delegation chief Pablo Solon.
"We're talking about a [combined] reduction in emissions of 13-16%, and what this means is an increase of more than 4C.
"Responsibly, we cannot go along with this - this would mean we went along with a situation that my president has termed 'ecocide and genocide'," Mr Solon said.
A few other countries, including other members of the left-wing Latin American Alba group and Saudi Arabia, also raised objections, but none have so far indicated their rejection of the texts.
As is traditional, the summit appears set to run for many hours beyond it
UN climate change talks in Cancun close in on deal
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Cancun
Under the deal some countries will escape the extension of emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol Continue reading the main story UN climate change talks
- Richard Black: latest blog posts
- Climate change glossary
- A brief history of climate change
- A journey through climate history
Agreement at the UN climate summit in Cancun appears to be close, with most delegations hailing compromise texts drawn up by the Mexican hosts.
Bolivia says it will not endorse the texts, but all other nations appear set to approve them.
The draft texts say deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed, but do not establish a mechanism for achieving the pledges countries have made.
It also sets up a fund to help poor countries cope with climate change.
Some countries' resistance to the Kyoto Protocol had been a stumbling block during the final week of negotiations, but diplomats may have found a compromise.
Delegates cheered speeches from governments that had caused the most friction during negotiations - Japan, China, even the US - as one by one they endorsed the draft.
The Green Climate Fund is intended to raise and disburse $100bn (£64bn) a year by 2020 to protect poor nations against climate impacts and assist them with low-carbon development.
A new Adaptation Committee will support countries as they establish climate protection plans.
And parameters for funding developing countries to reduce deforestation are outlined.
But the deal is a lot less than the comprehensive agreement that many countries wanted at last year's Copenhagen summit and continue to seek. It leaves open the question of whether any of its measures, including emission cuts, will be legally binding.
Continue reading the main story Climate change glossary
Select a term to learn more:GlossaryGlossaryAdaptation fund Annex I countries Annex II Anthropogenic climate change Aosis AR4 Atmospheric aerosols Bali action plan Bali roadmap Baseline for cuts Biofuel Black carbon Boxer-Kerry bill Business as usual Cap and trade Carbon capture and storage (CCS) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent Carbon footprint Carbon intensity Carbon leakage Carbon neutral Carbon offsetting Carbon sequestration Carbon sink Certified Emission Reduction (CER) CFCs Clean coal technology Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Climate change CO2 Commitment periodCOP15 Country in transition Dangerous climate change Deforestation Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) EU Burden-sharing agreement Feedback loop Flexible mechanism Fossil fuels G77 Geological sequestration Global average temperature Global energy budget Global dimming Global warming Global Warming Potential (GWP) Greenhouse gases (GHGs) Greenhouse effect Hockey stick IPCC Joint implementation (JI) Kyoto Protocol LDCs LULUCF Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Methane Mitigation Nairobi work programme Natural greenhouse effect Non-annex I countries Ocean acidification Per-capita emissions ppm (350/450) Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide Renewable energy REDD Stern review Technology transfer Tipping point Twenty-twenty-twenty (20-20-20) UNFCCC Waxman-Markey bill Weather
Suggest additions
Glossary in full
"Overall, we've moved on from Copenhagen - we can leave that ghost behind - it's another mood, another tone," said Tara Rao, senior policy adviser with environmental group WWF.
"There's enough in it that we can work towards next year's meeting in South Africa to get a legally binding agreement there."
And Dean Bialek, an adviser to the Marshall Islands, described the draft deal as "a game-changer".
"The multilateral climate regime is now back on track," he said.
"A new legally binding deal to complement the Kyoto Protocol by covering all major emitters is now well within sight."
Turning Japan The final day of the two-week summit had dawned with low expectations of a deal.
Continue reading the main story CANCUN CLIMATE SUMMIT
Small island states are looking at ways to evacuate their entire populations, says UN chief
- Japan targeted on climate stance
- Carbon cuts key to climate funds
- Huhne to stay at UN climate talks
- Climate warning at Cancun summit
- Charges to tackle ship emissions
- Poorer nations 'need carbon cuts'
But ministers conducted intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy to formulate texts that all parties could live with.
Russia and Japan have secured wording that leaves them a possible route to escape extension of the Kyoto Protocol's legally binding emission cuts, while strongly implying that the protocol has an effective future - a key demand of developing countries.
The Green Climate Fund will initially use the World Bank as a trustee - as the US, EU and Japan had demanded - while giving oversight to a new body balanced between developed and developing countries.
Developing countries will have their emission-curbing measures subjected to international verification only when they are funded by Western money - a formulation that seemed to satisfy both China, which had concerns on such verification procedures, and the US, which had demanded them.
"What we have now is text that while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward," said Todd Stern, the US climate envoy.
"So let us do what it takes to get this deal done and put the world on a path to a low emission and more sustainable pathway."
Mr Stern's comments marked the first time in many years that a US delegate has been cheered to the rafters of a UN climate convention hall.
Bolivia, though, found faults both with elements of the deal and with the way the texts were constructed through private conversations between small groups of countries.
"What concerns us most is that a list is going to be drawn up [of emission-cutting pledges countries have made], and it will not be commitments under the Kyoto Protocol," said delegation chief Pablo Solon.
"We're talking about a [combined] reduction in emissions of 13-16%, and what this means is an increase of more than 4C.
"Responsibly, we cannot go along with this - this would mean we went along with a situation that my president has termed 'ecocide and genocide'," Mr Solon said.
A few other countries, including other members of the left-wing Latin American Alba group and Saudi Arabia, also raised objections, but none have so far indicated their rejection of the texts.
As is traditional, the summit appears set to run for many hours beyond it