United Nations Streamlines Options for Paris Climate Talks in 20-Page Draft Text

摘要

The United Nations Oct. 5 released a dramatically shortened draft negotiating text of what it hopes will become the world's first global climate deal at an international summit in Paris in December. The 20-page document-trimmed from 76 pages in July-includes a commitment to try to keep the rise in global temperature to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) this century compared to pre-industrial times, long a goal of some climate scientists and negotiators. The Paris pact also could decide to set that ceiling at 1.5 degrees Celsius. And it includes a goal for negotiators to establish a peak level of global greenhouse gas emissions and a specific date by when the world's emissions would peak. The draft text will be the basis for negotiations at the Oct. 19-23 preparatory talks in Bonn, and the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 Paris summit, where delegates will have to settle on specific language in order to finalize the agreement.