Rocky start for UN climate talks in Bonn

AFP, BONN: As UN diplomats convened in Bonn Monday, developing nations were balking at the latest draft of a global climate agreement to be inked in Paris in December, negotiators and experts said.
The five-day session is the last formal parlay before heads of states and ministers gather in the French capital to seal a deal to beat back the threat of global warming and help poor nations cope with its impacts.
Monday will be the first opportunity for rank-and-file negotiators to weigh in on a new draft whittled down from 80 pages to 20 by two senior diplomats—one from Algeria, the other from the United States—leading the process.
Reactions from developing nations and veteran analysts of the talks, now in their
third decade, suggest that sparks will fly at the opening session.
Many countries are likely to insist that deleted passages be restored before the arduous job of line-by-line revisions can even begin.
“The text... cannot be used as a basis for negotiation, as it is unbalanced,” the African Group said in a statement released hours before the opening session.
The new draft “does not reflect the African Group positions, and crosses the group’s red lines,” it said.
The African nations’ viewpoint is shared by other blocs under the more than 100-strong “G77 plus China” umbrella.

 

Rocky start for UN climate talks in Bonn

AFP, BONN: As UN diplomats convened in Bonn Monday, developing nations were balking at the latest draft of a global climate agreement to be inked in Paris in December, negotiators and experts said. The five-day session is the last formal parlay before heads of states and ministers gather in the French capital to seal a deal to beat back the threat of global warming and help poor nations cope with its impacts. Monday will be the first opportunity for rank-and-file negotiators to weigh in on a new draft whittled down from 80 pages to 20 by two senior diplomatsone from Algeria, the other from the United Statesleading the process. Reactions from developing nations and veteran analysts of the talks, now in their third decade, suggest that sparks will fly at the opening session. Many countries are likely to insist that deleted passages be restored before the arduous job of line-by-line revisions can even begin. The text... cannot be used as a basis for negotiation, as it is unbalanced, the African Group said in a statement released hours before the opening session. The new draft does not reflect the African Group positions, and crosses the groups red lines, it said. The African nations viewpoint is shared by other blocs under the more than 100-strong G77 plus China umbrella.