Some vulnerable countries accept ‘compromise’ on 1.5°C warming cap

Pia Ranada

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Some vulnerable countries accept ‘compromise’ on 1.5°C warming cap
As COP21 enters its final stretch, some nations say they can accept new wording on the draft deal's warming limit

LE BOURGET, France – Several vulnerable countries expressed willingness to compromise on their call for a 1.5°C warming limit during a critical crunch-time gathering of country lead negotiators in the early hours of Friday, December 11 – supposed to be the last day of the UN climate conference (COP21) in Paris.

In a meeting chaired by COP21 president and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, countries at high risk of climate-linked disasters said they are ready to accept a new compromise text on the ambition of the UN climate deal.

Ambition refers to what goal countries will strive towards to curb global warming.

Before the meeting, countries sided themselves with either a “below 2°C warming limit” or a “below 1.5°C warming limit.” Countries that want the 1.5°C goal are mostly small island states, Latin American, African, and Southeast Asian countries.

But during the meeting, which began around 12 am on Friday, some countries said they accepted a new wording by Fabius and his team which appeared in the latest version of the world’s climate agreement.

This new wording is not in brackets and is not presented as one of many options – meaning, unless there are last minute objections, it will most likely be in the final agreement. 

The wording says that the world’s goal is 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.”

‘Landing ground’

Countries like Colombia, Palau, Maldives, Barbados, Grenada, Gambia, and Indonesia said they would be able to work with the new language of the key provision.

Gambia said the new wording is “a landing ground where we can compromise” while Grenada said though it still calls for a clearer reference to 1.5°C as the warming cap, “in the spirit of compromise and goodwill, we will be prepared to work with your proposal.”

Maldives, an archipelago composed of tiny coral atolls threatened by sea level rise due to global warming, said that while 1.5°C is a “matter of survival,” it believes the “compromise presented by the president is acceptable.”

But the Philippines, one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, reiterated its call for a stronger wording of that particular provision.

PH VOICE. Head of Philippine delegation Emmanuel de Guzman calls for stronger wording on the goal of the draft climate pact regarding warming limit.

Head of Philippine delegation Emmanuel de Guzman said the team was “pleased” by the new wording because it still contains the “below 1.5°C” figure but asked for “stronger language on scale to ensure there is balance and integrity in the entire agreement.” (READ: 4 crucial things PH wants from UN climate pact)

Staunch opposition

However, the countries that have traditionally opposed any reference to 1.5°C held their ground.

These include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia – notably oil-producing countries who stand to lose a lot from a lower warming cap because this would mean more carbon emissions reductions and cut-backs on fossil fuel use.

The willingness of some vulnerable countries to accept the just-proposed text on the warming limit is a positive development for getting closer to an agreement.

But the continued opposition of the powerful oil-producing countries poses an obstacle in teasing out this contentious part of the agreement.

And it’s only one of many. Other issues that remained unresolved, coming into the meeting, were differentiation (how countries have common responsibilities that they can fulfill individually based on national circumstances) and climate finance (money from developed countries to poorer nations to help them reduce carbon emissions and adapt to adverse climate impacts).

In an effort to speed up the negotiations, Fabius suggested countries particularly concerned with the 4 sticky issues gather in a separate room to resolve their differences. Each group was assigned a facilitator and is supposed to report on the group’s progress to the main gathering.

The Philippines was able to send negotiators to the ambition and finance spin-off meetings.

A member of the country’s delegation said meetings would continue all day on Friday, the day on which the French hosts hope the final climate pact will be adopted. – Rappler.com

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Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.