195 Countries Agree to Rough Plan to Curb Global Warming

They have one week left to finalize a climate change agreement
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2015 1:58 PM CST
195 Countries Agree to Rough Plan to Curb Global Warming
Sean Penn speaks at the ongoing UN climate talks in Paris. Nearly 200 countries agreed to a draft plan to address global warming on Saturday.   (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

Against all odds, 195 countries agreed long enough on how best to fight global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to come to a draft agreement at the ongoing UN climate talks on Saturday in Paris, CNN reports. While there are still a lot of issues to hammer out, participants are optimistic that having a rough blueprint done on schedule—a rare occurrence—will give ministers enough time to negotiate an unprecedented agreement next week, according to the Guardian. “It has laid a solid foundation for next week…like when we cook a meal you need to have all the seasonings and ingredients and recipes, but next week is the actual cooking," China's chief climate negotiator says.

One of the biggest sticking points left to negotiate is how much money and resources developed countries will give to help developing countries meet climate change goals, NPR reports. The only line in the draft plan currently addressing that issue—as quoted by CNN—reads: "Developed countries shall provide developing countries with long-term, scaled-up, predictable, new and additional finance, technology and capability-building." While the same issue has proved an impossible hurdle toward previous climate change agreements, many remain optimistic this time will be different, NPR reports. "It always seems impossible until it's done," the French ecology minister quoted Nelson Mandela Saturday at the conference. "We will do it." (More Paris stories.)

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