Battle Between Rich and Poor Nations Delays UN Report on Climate Change
Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new UN report on Climate Change (CC), and the battle between rich & poor developing nations over emissions targets & financial aid.
The report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) caps a series that digests vast amounts of research on global warming compiled since the Paris climate accord was agreed upon in 2015.
A summary of the report was approved early Sunday but agreement on the main text dragged on for several hours.
In the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said we have little time left for the world to limit global warming to 15 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times.
Average global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 Celsius since the 19th century.
Only a 1.5 target limit remains possible “with rapid & deep emissions reductions across all sectors of the global economy.
Observers said the IPCC meetings have increasingly become political as the stake for curbing global warming increases.
The meeting was about how to define which nations count as vulnerable developing countries, making them eligible for cash from the “loss & damage” fund agreed on at the last UN climate talks in Egypt.
Delegates have also battled over figures stating how much greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut over the coming years & how to include artificial or natural carbon removal efforts.
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