Historic Paris climate deal revealed

Activists gather near the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Photo / AP

The world finally has a new accord on climate action, with the French presidency finally releasing the text in Paris.

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After nearly two weeks of tough haggling between bureaucrats and ministers from around the world, French and UN officials completed a line-by-line edit of an historic agreement that seeks to slow global warming and ease its impacts.

Highlights of the deal include:

• A reference for countries to undertake five-yearly reviews
• The symbolic inclusion of 1.5C as an aspiration to limit warming to, but with a target of 2C
• Vague language on the level of overall ambition: it does not specify a date for the peaking of emissions, and specifies only that reductions should lead towards 'greenhouse gas emissions neutrality' in the 'second half of the century'
• References around loss and damage - where rich countries could be made liable to pay aid to poor countries for climate-driven damage also remain legally vague

World powers had led an overtime push for a deal as sleep-deprived envoys battled in Paris to unlock deep-seated disputes about who must do what to confront climate change.

The New Zealand negotiating team will be reviewing the text now for indications that would allow New Zealand to continue meeting its pledge through emissions accounting and carbon trading.

Labour climate change spokesperson and New Zealand delegation member Megan Woods told the Herald: "The message is strong that there is a global path forward but all countries will now have to go home and make sure it happens."

Many had billed the talks as the last chance to avert worst-case-scenario climate change effects: increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms, as well as rising seas that would engulf islands and populated coasts.

The agreement seeks to revolutionise the world's energy system by cutting back or potentially eliminating coal and other fossil fuels, replacing them with renewable sources such as solar and wind.

The Paris talks have largely been free of the fierce arguments that plagued previous UN climate conferences.

Environmental groups in Paris have hailed the deal - but say more still needs to be done.
"The latest draft of the Paris Agreement is an important step forward," said David Tong, spokesperson for the New Zealand branch of the global Climate Action Network.

"This agreement will mark the end of the fossil fuel era and the dawn of the renewable energy era. The momentum towards a 100 per cent renewable energy future is unstoppable."

Mr Tong remained disappointed with New Zealand's stance.

"While all countries must do more in the coming years, the Paris negotiations show that the New Zealand government is out of step with the world.

"New Zealand's government has chosen to take the opposite side of the table from its Pacific neighbours, resisting their calls for a 1.5C goal as long as it could, blocking progress on the loss and damage mechanism they need, and turning deaf ears to their calls for increased climate finance."

"Now that we've got a global agreement, it's time for New Zealanders to make our government step up its game. Our 2030 target of only reducing emissions by 11 per cent from 1990 levels must be lifted before the global deal enters force in 2020."

Greenpeace spokesperson Kimi Naidoo said: "The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned. This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history.

"There's much in the text that has been diluted and polluted by the people who despoil our planet, but it contains a new imperative to limit temperature rises to 1.5C.

"That single number, and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states.

"Now comes the great task of this century. How do we meet this new goal?

"The measures outlined in Paris simply do not get us there. We have a 1.5C wall to climb, but the ladder isn't long enough. The emissions targets on the table aren't big enough, and the deal doesn't do enough to change that.

"The new goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of the century effectively means we need to phase out fossil fuels - the easiest to cut - by 2050."

350.org executive director May Boeve said the final text still had "some serious gaps".

"We're very concerned about the exclusion of the rights of indigenous peoples, the lack of finance for loss and damage, and that while the text recognises the importance of keeping global warming below 1.5C, the current commitments from countries still add up to well over 3C of warming.

"These are red lines we cannot cross. After Paris, we'll be redoubling our efforts to deliver the real solutions that science and justice demand."

The text can be viewed here: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf

Additional reporting - AFP