UN communicates negotiating text for climate agreement to capitals
The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) communicated the negotiating text for a new climate change agreement to governments in all six official UN languages. This communication means that the formal legal and procedural requirements to allow countries to adopt a legal instrument under the UNFCCC have been fulfilled. Governments are set to agree a global climate change agreement in Paris, in December, which will come into effect in 2020. As part of the agreement, every country is expected to contribute now and into the future, based on their national circumstances, to prevent global warming rising above 2 degrees Celsius and to adapt societies to existing and future climate change. This allows early consideration of the emerging consensus and the options now on the table by all concerned government ministries so countries can conclude successfully in Paris. Paris needs to puts the world on a recognizable track to peak global emissions as soon as possible, achieve a deep de-carbonization of the global economy and reach a climate neutral world in the second half of this century at the latest. The negotiating text covers the substantive content of the new agreement including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building, and transparency of action and support.