200 nations vow to back climate deal despite US

BONN: Almost 200 nations kept a 2015 global agreement to tackle climate change on track on Saturday after marathon talks overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw.

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, presiding at the two-week talks in Bonn, said the outcome “underscores the importance of keeping the momentum and of holding the spirit and vision of our Paris Agreement.”

Delegates agreed to launch a process in 2018 to start reviewing existing plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions as part of a long-term effort to ratchet up ambition. It would be called the Talanoa Dialogue, after a Fijian word for story-telling and sharing experiences.

And they made progress to draft a rule book for the agreement, which seeks to end the fossil fuel era this century, at the meeting in Bonn that ran beyond a planned ending on Friday.

The rule book, covering aspects such as how to report and monitor each nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, is due to be ready by December next year.

Many delegates said the work needed to go faster. “Right now we’re moving at a brisk walk, so all countries will need to really pick up the pace from here,” said Jose Sarney Filho, Brazil’s environment minister.

The Paris pact aims to limit a rise in average world temperatures to “well below” two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, ideally 1.5 degrees to limit more droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels.

But existing policies are on track to cause a rise of about three degrees by 2100. The Talanoa Dialogue would be a step towards tighter policies.

Climate change is a global challenge. The Paris Agreement has sped up the historic global momentum for dealing with climate change, and that momentum is not reversible. XIE ZHENHUA, China’s lead negotiator