Leaders of the world’s top economies on Monday vowed to seek a deal to curb climate change at an upcoming UN conference in Paris, according to a draft statement drawn up in tough, all-night talks.
Negotiators at a Group of 20 summit in Turkey haggled into the early hours as Saudi Arabia and India initially refused to include specific goals such as limiting global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrialised levels, sources said.
France, backed by the European Union (EU), is working furiously to make the climate talks a success and Paris officials bristled at the reluctance of some countries to include its basic objectives in the statement.
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time,” said the draft communique obtained by AFP before it was submitted for final agreement by national leaders gathered in the Turkish Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
“We reaffirm the below 2C degree climate goal,” it said, underlining a “determination” to adopt a deal with legal force.
The blockbuster climate meeting will assemble 195 countries outside Paris from November 30 to December 11 in a bid to forge a post-2020 pact to roll back global warming.
Meanwhile, climate talks in Paris will focus on the negotiations, and “a whole series” of side events will be cancelled, the French prime minister said Monday.
Speaking three days after Paris was hit by devastating jihadist attacks, Manuel Valls said the city would be the “capital of the world”. Barack Obama still intends to attend the climate talks, known by the UN acronym as COP21.
