COP24: World leaders gathered in Katowice, Poland, to negotiate how to tackle climate change.
What it looked like: Over two weeks, nations finalized how to implement the goal of limiting global warming to significantly less than two degrees.
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COP24 climate conference: World facing ‘greatest threat in thousands of years’
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Crucial climate talks end in agreement -- barely
After two weeks of difficult negotiations, the world’s nations agreed on a set of rules meant to help curb global warming.
This so-called “Paris Rulebook” is supposed to put into motion the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
But scientists and even the negotiators themselves acknowledge the rulebook won’t be enough on its own to stop carbon pollution from reaching critical levels.
Read more about what was agreed at COP24, and an analysis of how some nations are still arguing over basic climate science.
The long wait continues
It’s now 8.50pm in Katowice, Poland.
Negotiations continue as COP24 spills further into overtime.
We’re signing off for now, but we’ll return when a decision has been reached.
Negotiations nearing a close?
Climate negotiations at COP24 in Poland appear to be nearing a close. Two government ministers and one senior negotiator in the closed-door talks tell CNN that only one issue remains – how countries report the pollution that causes warming, and whether they may be allowed to “double count” some of it. Brazil is among the countries holding up the talks on this point, negotiators said. Small island states have begrudgingly conceded to “compromise” language concerning the state of climate science, according to Simon Stiell, minister of climate resilience and environment from Grenada, in the Caribbean.
That had been another major point of disagreement, with the United States and others not wanting to “welcome” the results of a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Right now we are close,” Norway’s climate and environment minister, Ola Elvestuen, told CNN. “But there is always something at the end. Nothing is agreed until all is agreed.” A plenary session is scheduled for 12pm ET/6pm local.
IPCC report: A sticking point in negotiations
The Trump Administration’s refusal to “welcome” the results of a major scientific report on climate change is seen as a sticking point at the COP24 climate change talks in Poland, which are still in overtime without resolution.
Officials on have today released a new draft of a contentious statement that has hung like a cloud over these negotiations.
At issue is a report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which says drastic cuts to fossil fuel and other carbon pollution are needed in order to avoid disastrous levels of global warming. The new draft text “welcomes the timely completion” of that report. That is an “elegant compromise” that stops short of the endorsement that the European Union and small-island countries had wanted; and also acknowledges the fact that the United States does not endorse the report, said Camilla Born, senior policy advisor at E3G, an environmental policy think tank. “They’re welcoming the fact that they’re doing it on time. I read that bit as a recognition of (the report) – but it doesn’t make any political judgement on its value,” she said.
It remains unclear how countries will react to the language, she said.
Negotiators from around the world have been in closed-door meetings this morning and overnight on Friday.
Debate about whether to “welcome” or simply “note” the findings of that report have stalled negotiations and flared emotions, observers say.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia last weekend refused to “welcome” the findings of the report, stunning some delates from other countries that consider climate change an urgent threat.
Brazil also is a “hard-liner” in the talks over how credits for pollution reduction are handled, according to a senior negotiator in the closed-door meetings. “It looks like they are going to push this to the limits,” the source said.
Brazil’s request could be viewed as an effort to double-count pollution reduction efforts, according to the senior negotiator.
That single issue – but likely not the entire rule-making effort – could be pushed out of the discussions here and into talks next year, observers said.
Talks go deeper into overtime
And the wait continues...
Good morning from COP24 in Katowice, Poland.
After a long night of delayed meetings and negotiations, we’re still waiting for a statement on the rulebook.
We’ll bring that news to you when it happens.
World awaits decision at climate talks
On what is meant to be the final day of talks at COP24, there’s still no consensus on a final text.
We’re signing off for now, but we’ll return when a decision has been reached.
"High Ambition Coalition" demands more from COP rulebook
At a press conference this afternoon the “High Ambition Coalition” – which includes the EU, Canada, Costa Rica, Argentina, New Zealand, Norway, and a number of small island nations – called for a robust Paris rulebook.
David Paul, Environment Minister of the Marshall Islands, said:
“We need three things from this COP:
“One, is the IPCC report must be front and center coming out of this COP and in all future work.
“Two, there must be a clear signal that there will be an increase in ambition coming out of this COP.
“Three, we need a rulebook that will fully implement all aspects of the Paris Agreement and lead to ambition.”
11th hour at climate talks
After two weeks of discord, negotiations to save the world from disastrous levels of global warming are sputtering toward a conclusion.
The point of the negotiations is to come up with a “rulebook” that will make real the Paris Agreement on climate change, which countries agreed to at a previous round of these talks in 2015.
New, but not final, drafts of those rules were released last night and will continue to be revised.
But not everyone is happy with the draft texts.
"Stand with people not polluters"
Youth and front line community leaders have occupied a staircase in the main foyer of the COP24 conference hall.
Activists are calling for climate justice holding big banners that read: “Which side are you on?” and “Stand with people not polluters.”
Students protest for climate protection in Germany
Pupils are demonstrating in Berlin, Hamburg and Kiel today to raise awareness about the causes and consequences of climate change.
Inspired by young climate activist Greta Thunberg, students in Germany have called on Facebook and Twitter to protest for the climate instead of going to school.
Climate talks reach climax in Polish coal country
There are many bizarre paradoxes at play at COP24 as climate talks reach a critical climax.
The biggest of which is that the summit itself is being held in the heart of Poland’s coal country.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh went 1,000 meters below ground into a coal mine in Katowice.
“It’s quite startling this far below the Earth to see how divorced this world is from the global challenge above at COP24,” he said.
"They don't really care about us"
Inspired by 15-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s call for a global climate strike, students are protesting at COP24 singing: “All I want to say is that they don’t really care about us.”
Will there be an agreement today?
We’re back up and running at COP24 as ministers attempt to agree on a common rulebook. Will that come today, or will negotiations spill over into the weekend?
After 2 weeks of talks much remains to be finalized.
Draft text on its way ...
We’re signing off our coverage for the day as we wait for a draft negotiating package to be released — the spine of what could become the “Paris Rulebook.” It will give options for ministers to consult on – and hopefully agree on by the end of the week.
We’ll be back to make sense of it tomorrow.
Over 1,000 institutions commit to divest from fossil fuels, says report
More than 1,000 institutions with managed investments worth almost $8 trillion have committed to divest from fossil fuels, according to a new report announced at COP24 today.
The report by international environmental organization 350.org says pledges have been made by cities, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, faith groups and other institutions across 37 countries.
Speaking at COP today, 350.org’s Nicolas Haeringer said:
“This is clearly a moral movement, it’s about saying: ‘Stop wasting your money in destroying the planet.’
“But it’s not just a moral movement; it has turned into a financial one. … The question for financial institutions that haven’t divested yet is not are they going to divest, but when?”
"Decades of inaction must end at Katowice"
At a press conference hosted by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 48 countries that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there was criticism of the inaction at COP24, and demands for developed nations to make more ambitious climate pledges.
Emmanuel De Guzman, of the Philippines Climate Change Commission, said:
“We find the ambivalence of countries in these negotiations unacceptable. The success of these talks will determine countless lives and existences.
“The decades of procrastination and inaction must end at Katowice,” he added.
Head of the Maldives delegation, former president Mohamed Nasheed, suggested it was time to stop asking developed countries to cut emissions, and instead ask them to invest in renewable energy:
“Since I last addressed COP 19 in 2009, nothing much seems to have changed,” he said.
“We’re still begging the leaders of big polluters to stop polluting on ethical grounds, but they’re not listening to us – they never were.
Crunch time at COP
As we close out our coverage for the day, we’ll leave you with a report on the challenge facing delegates on day 10 of COP24 – Will they be able to agree on a rulebook before the Friday deadline?
Return of the “High-Ambition Coalition”
At COP21 in 2015, the emergence of a “High Ambition Coalition” helped drive through the Paris Agreement.
COP24 has just seen the emergence of a new “High Ambition Coalition,” that includes the EU, Canada, Costa Rica, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, Norway, Fiji and the Marshall Islands.
The group says it is “determined to step up ambition by 2020,” including through enhanced national climate pledges, increased short-term action and long-term low emission development strategies.
A statement from the coalition adds:
“The Summit must deliver a clear, strong and effective multilateral response to the Special Report on 1.5°C, including by countries stepping up climate ambition.”
“We call on other governments and non-Party stakeholders to join us in striving to step up ambition by 2020 in response to the Special Report on 1.5°C.”
US delivers high-level statement
Towards the end of the day, the United States delivered its much-awaited statement at the COP high-level segment.
Judith G. Garber, senior bureau official from the Department of State, who heads the US delegation at COP24, listed her country’s accomplishments in reducing fossil fuel emissions, while stressing that fossil fuels would continue to play a role in the US energy mix – along with natural gas, nuclear power and renewables.
She referred to President Trump’s announcement last year that the US would leave the Paris Agreement, “absent the identification of terms that are more favorable to the America people.”
Garber concluded:
“The US will continue to engage our many partner countries and allies around the world to reduce emissions, to continue to adapt to climate change, and to respond to natural disasters.
“We’ll also work with other countries to develop and deploy a broad array of technologies as we continue to promote economic growth, improve energy security, and protect the environment.”
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