DELEGATES AGREE ON CLIMATE RULE BOOK
Countries to adopt standards to measure emissions, track policies
DIPLOMATS from nearly 200 countries reached a deal on Saturday to keep the Paris climate agreement alive by adopting a set of rules to implement the pact.
The deal, struck after an allnight bargaining session, will ultimately require all countries to follow a set of standards for measuring their planet-warming emissions, and tracking their climate policies. And it calls on countries to step up their plans to cut emissions before another round of talks in 2020.
It also calls on richer countries to be clearer about the aid they intend to offer to help poorer nations install more clean energy, or build resilience against natural disasters. And it builds a process in which countries that are struggling to meet their emissions goals can get help.
The United States agreed to the deal despite President Donald Trump’s vow to abandon the Paris Agreement.
Diplomats and climate change activists said they hoped that fact would make it easier for the administration to change its mind and stay in the Paris Agreement, or for a future president to embrace the accord once again. The US cannot withdraw from the agreement until late 2020.
Observers said US negotiators had worked constructively behind the scenes with China on transparency rules. The two countries had long been at odds because China had insisted on different reporting rules for developing countries, while the US favoured consistent emissionsaccounting rules and wanted all countries to be subject to the same outside scrutiny.
“The US got a clear methodology to make sure that China and India are meeting their targets,” said Jake Schmidt, international policy director at the Natural Resources Defence Council.
“That creates the level playing field they have been asking for.”
Many of the attendees at this year’s United Nations climate talks — known as COP24, shorthand for their formal name — expressed disappointment at what they saw as half-measures to deal with a mounting climate crisis.
Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising and millions are facing increased risks from severe droughts, floods and wildfires.
But supporters of the deal said they hoped the new rules would help build a virtuous cycle of trust and cooperation at a time when global politics seems increasingly fractured.
Not every country got what it wanted at the meeting, which had been scheduled to end on Friday. Developing nations were hoping for more robust promises on climate aid, but that issue has been postponed for future talks.