Draft Agreement in Lima Climate Talks Calls for Emissions Cuts by Every Nation

A draft agreement calling for all nations to commit to greenhouse gas emissions cuts is circulating among climate negotiators in Lima, Peru, The New York Times reports.  The proposed text calls for each of the 196 countries involved in negotiations to publicly commit to its own plan for reducing emissions.  Those individual plans, however, will be driven by national politics and economic concerns, rather than by what scientists say is needed to curb the worst effects of climate change, critics say. 

Historic pledges by the U.S. and China last month to cut emissions catalyzed the new draft text, negotiators say, because the two nations — the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters — had been spoilers in previous climate talks.  “It’s a breakthrough, because it gives meaning to the idea that every country will make cuts,” said Yvo de Boer, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.  The goal for the Lima talks is to settle on a draft text, which could become the basis for a deal signed by world leaders in Paris next December.

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