Climate talks deliver ‘rule book’-It is designed to achieve the Paris summit goals of limiting temperature rise to below 2°Celsius

• Nations struck a deal to breathe life into the landmark 2015 Paris climate treaty after marathon UN talks that failed to match the ambition the most vulnerable countries need to avert dangerous global warming.
• Delegates from nearly 200 states finalised a common rule book designed to deliver on the Paris goals of limiting global temperature rises to well below 2°Celsius.

       ‘Lacking ambition’

• But states already dealing with devastating floods, droughts and extreme weather made worse by climate change said the package agreed in the mining city of Katowice lacked the bold ambition to cut emissions the world needed.
• The final decision text was repeatedly delayed as negotiators sought guidelines that could ward off the worst threats posed by the heating planet while protecting the economies of rich and poor nations alike.
• At their heart, negotiations were about how each nation funds action to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as how those actions are reported.
• Developing nations had wanted more clarity from richer ones over how the future climate fight will be funded and pushed for so-called “loss and damage” measures.
• This would see richer countries giving money now to help deal with the effects of climate change many vulnerable states are already experiencing.
• Another contentious issue was the integrity of carbon markets, looking ahead to the day when the patchwork of distinct exchanges — in China, the Europe Union, parts of the U.S. — may be joined up in a global system.
• The Paris Agreement calls for setting up a mechanism to guard against practices such as double counting emissions savings, which could undermine such a market.
• One of the largest disappointments for countries of all wealths and sizes was the lack of ambition to reduce emissions shown in the final COP24 text.

        IPCC report

• Most nations wanted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to form a key part of future planning.
• It had highlighted the need to slash carbon pollution by nearly half before 2030 in order to hit the 1.5°C target.
• But the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected, leading to watered-down wording.

The Hindu