The Obama administration moved to unblock fraught negotiations on the new climate accord due to be struck in Paris tomorrow with an $860m pledge to help poor countries deal with the heatwaves and fierce storms scientists say are likely to intensify as global temperatures rise.
But it was far from clear yesterday if the announcement would resolve the slew of stumbling blocks that are threatening to weaken the first new global climate deal in 18 years. Ministers worked late into Tuesday night to produce a revised draft text of the agreement that was nearly 20 pages shorter than the 48-page document negotiators had previously been working on.
But Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, who is presiding over the Paris conference, conceded yesterday that three big stumbling blocks remained: the size and nature of the money wealthy countries would deliver to help poor nations deal with climate change; the temperature and emissions goals the agreement would aim to meet, and the extent to which rich countries should continue to lead efforts to combat climate change.