Lima climate change talks reach agreement Deal would for first time commit all countries – including developing nations – to cutting emissions / Guardian.

Lima climate change talks reach agreement

Deal would for first time commit all countries – including developing nations – to cutting emissions

Suzanne Goldenberg in Lima

Sunday 14 December 2014 / http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/14/lima-climate-change-talks-reach-agreement

Negotiators adopted a course of action on Sunday that would for the first time commit every country to cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.

The decision reached at United Nations climate talks on Sunday was seen as a significant first step towards reaching a global climate change deal in Paris at the end of next year – although negotiators acknowledged much of the hard work remained ahead.

It is also far from clear that the actions sketched out on Sunday would be enough to limit warming to the internationally agreed limit of 2C above pre-industrial levels – or to protect poor countries from climate change.

“I think this is good, and I think this moves us forward,” Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru’s environment minister and the chair of the talks, said.

The deal struck early Sunday – now officially known as the Lima Call for Climate Action - would for the first time require all countries, rising economies as well as rich countries, to take action on climate change.

That represents a break from one of the defining principles of the last 20 years of climate talks – that wealthy countries should carry the burden of cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

Now for the first time, China, whose emissions have overtaken the US since climate talks began as well as India, Brazil and other rising economies have agreed they will need to cut their own emissions as well.

As agreed, countries would come up with their own emissions reductions targets, with a suggested deadline of 31 March 2015.

The United Nations would then weigh up those pledges and determine whether the collective action was enough to limit warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels, the internationally agreed goal.