Lima draft pact vital for Paris deal in 2015: UN chief
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E-mail Xinhua, December 10, 2014
The draft pact to be reach in Lima is vital as it will provide a sound basis for a binding climate agreement in Paris in 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday, urging negotiators at a UN climate conference in Peru to take united action to produce a balanced and coherent draft text.
"This is not a time for tinkering but transformation. The momentum for action is building," Ban said in his address to the high-level segment of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, currently underway in Peru.
"We are in this historical moment in Lima to write a new story, reach a universal agreement and talk with one voice. I call on governments to invest in climate agreement. In Lima, we need to produce a balanced and coherent draft text," said the UN chief.
Noting that there is still chance to stay within internationally agreed ceiling of less than 2 degree Celsius of global temperature rise, Ban said: "We must act now, but the window of opportunity is closing fast. All countries must be part of the solution."
Ban called on governments to deliver a balanced, coherent draft text to lay a solid foundation for Paris agreement in 2015 and urged the parties concerned to reach a common understanding on Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and climate finance.
He made five-point requests at the event: a balanced draft agreement to offer a foundation for Paris, a common understanding for commitments countries to make, more pledges to the Green Climate Fund and a pathway to meet 100 U.S. dollars per year by 2020 for poorer countries, coordinated action to encourage private sector, business and civil society, and also ratification of the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol during the second commitment period.
Ban also expressed his appreciation of the recent climate moves that China, the United States and the European Union have made before the conference, which he said opened the door for all major economies and other industrialized nations in particular to bring forward their contributions to the Paris agreement in a timely fashion.
