Consensus is reached on climate

After two weeks of bruising negotiations, officials from almost 200 countries agreed Saturday on universal transparent rules that will govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming.

Fierce disagreements on two other climate issues were kicked down the road for a year to help bridge a chasm of opinions on the best solutions.

The deal agreed upon at UN climate talks in Poland enables countries to put into action the principles in the 2015 Paris climate accord — which President Trump has promised to abandon.

But to the frustration of environmental activists and some countries who were urging more ambitious climate goals, negotiators delayed decisions on two key issues until next year.

“Through this package, you have made a thousand little steps forward together,” said Michal Kurtyka, a senior Polish official chairing the talks.

He said while each country would likely find some parts of the pact it didn’t like, efforts had been made to balance the interests of all parties.

“We will all have to give in order to gain,” he said. “We will all have to ... look into the future and make yet another step for the sake of humanity.”

The talks in Poland took place amid growing concern that global warming on Earth is proceeding faster than governments are responding to it.

Last month, a study found global warming will worsen disasters such as the deadly California wildfires and the powerful hurricanes that have hit the United States this year.

Oil-rich countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have fought against curbing fossil fuel consumption.

Among those that pushed back hardest was the U.S., despite Trump’s decision to pull out of the accord and promote the use of coal.

“The U.S. role here has been somewhat schizophrenic, pushing coal and dissing science on the one hand, but also working hard in the room for strong transparency rules,” said Elliot Diringer of the think tank Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.