UN chief to help push for Lima climate draft deal

UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon heads to Lima next week to help spur action on climate change and clinch a draft deal on emissions reduction.

Ban said Thursday, December 4, he wanted to “keep ambitions high” at the UN climate talks that opened in the Peruvian capital on Monday, December 1, and are due to wrap up December 12.

“We are determined to sustain the momentum generated by the recent important announcements by the United States, China, the European Union and, yesterday, Germany,” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters.

Last month, China and the United Sates reached a deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and similar commitments were made by the European Union, while Germany adopted an action plan on Wednesday.

Ban hailed those “encouraging” steps, saying he hoped that in Lima, “we will be able to have a draft text that would be finally adopted in Paris.”

Negotiators from 195 countries are hoping to agree on a draft agreement to address climate change that will be adopted at a landmark conference in Paris in December 2015.

In September, Ban hosted what was billed as the world’s biggest gathering of leaders on climate change to focus attention on the need for action after the 2009 Copenhagen conference ended in fiasco. – Rappler.com