Global General
New climate draft drops treaty deadline
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-19 00:51
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* Previous draft said treaty by end 2010
* U.N. deal to be called "Copenhagen Accord"
COPENHAGEN: A new draft for a climate deal in Copenhagen has dropped a reference to an end-2010 deadline for reaching a legally binding treaty that had been in a previous text on Friday.
The new draft, obtained by Reuters, also introduced a name for the proposed agreement -- the "Copenhagen Accord". About 120 world leaders are meeting in the Danish capital seeking to unblock disputes over the previously unnamed text.
The three-page document, which would not be binding in international law, dropped a final paragraph in a previous draft that had said that negotiations on a full, legally binding treaty would have to be completed by the end of 2010.
The text stuck to previous goals, including one of limiting world temperature rises to a maximum rise of 2 Celsius above pre-industrial times to avert impacts such as floods, heatwaves, species extinctions and rising ocean levels.
"We shall, recognising the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees and in the context of sustainable development, enhance our long-term cooperative action to combat climate change," it said.
World leaders including U.S President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao are in Copenhagen seeking to bridge differences over the deal meant to chart a path towards a greener future less dependent on fossil fuels.
The draft still left blank key elements such as the depth of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions expected of developed nations by 2020.
