The longest United Nations climate talks on record have finally ended in Madrid with a compromise deal.
Exhausted delegates reached agreement on the key question of increasing the global response to curbing carbon.
All countries will need to put new climate pledges on the table by the time of the next major conference in Glasgow next year.
Divisions over other questions – including carbon markets – were delayed until the next gathering.
After two extra days and nights of negotiations, delegates finally agreed a deal that will see new, improved carbon cutting plans on the table by the time of the Glasgow conference next year.
All parties will need to address the gap between what the science says is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change, and the current state of play which would see the world go past this threshold in the 2030s.
Supported by the European Union and small island states, the push for higher ambition was opposed by a range of countries including the US, Brazil, India and China.
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However a compromise was agreed with the richer nations having to show that they have kept their promises on climate change in the years before 2020.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was disappointed by the result.
“The international community lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation and finance to tackle the climate crisis,” he said, quoted by AFP.
‘Never have I seen such a disconnect’
Meanwhile, Laurence Tubiana from the European Climate Foundation, and an architect of the Paris agreement, described the result as “really a mixed bag, and a far cry from what science tells us is needed.”
“Major players who needed to deliver in Madrid did not live up to expectations, but thanks to a progressive alliance of small island states, European, African and Latin American countries, we obtained the best possible outcome, against the will of big polluters.”
Decisions on other issues including the thorny question of carbon markets have been delayed until Glasgow.
Source:BBC
