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Sunday 24 of November 2024

Draft agreement emerges at UN climate talks, pitfalls remain


FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, a Coast Guard rescue team evacuates people from a neighborhood inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston, Texas. Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warns a new report Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change runs deep. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File),FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, a Coast Guard rescue team evacuates people from a neighborhood inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston, Texas. Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warns a new report Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change runs deep. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, a Coast Guard rescue team evacuates people from a neighborhood inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston, Texas. Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warns a new report Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change runs deep. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File),FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, a Coast Guard rescue team evacuates people from a neighborhood inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston, Texas. Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warns a new report Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change runs deep. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — Negotiators at the U.N. climate meeting in Poland are gathering to discuss the first comprehensive draft agreement to emerge after almost two weeks of talks.

Ministers and senior officials from almost 200 countries were due to hold further meetings Friday before convening in plenary in the afternoon to address remaining differences.

Among the key pitfalls to emerge overnight was the question of how to establish a functioning international market in carbon credits and whether some countries should get money for damage already caused by climate change.

The meeting is meant to finalize the rulebook for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, provide assurances to poor nations on financial support for tackling global warming, and send a message that countries are committed to stepping up their efforts in the coming years.