COP24 President Michal Kurtyka and Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa pose with the heads of delegations after adopting the final agreement during a closing session of the COP24 U.N. Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland, December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
KATOWICE, (Poland) December 16(Reuters) - Nearly 200 countries overcame political divisions late on Saturdayto agree on rules for implementing a landmark global climate deal, but criticssay it is not ambitious enough to prevent the dangerous effects of globalwarming.
After two weeks of talks in thePolish city of Katowice, nations finally reached consensus on a more detailedframework for the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit a rise in averageworld temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degreesFahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
"It is not easy to find agreement on a deal so specific and technical. Through this package you have made a thousand little steps forward together. You can feel proud," Polishpresident of the talks Michal Kurtyka told delegates.
After he struck the gavel to signal agreement had been reached, ministers joined him on the stage, hugging and laughing in signs of relief after the marathon talks.
Before the talks started, many expected the deal would not be as robust as needed. The unity which underpinnedthe Paris talks has fragmented, and U.S. President Donald Trump intends to pullhis country - one of the world's biggest emitters - out of the pact.
At the 11th hour, ministersmanaged to break a deadlock between Brazil and other countries over theaccounting rules for the monitoring of carbon credits, deferring the bulk ofthat discussion to next year, but missing an opportunity to send a signal to businessesto speed up their actions.
Still, exhausted ministersmanaged to bridge a series of divides to produce a 156-page rulebook - which isbroken down into themes such as how countries will report and monitor theirnational pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissionsplans.
Not everyone is happy witheverything, but the process is still on track and it is something to build on,several ministers said.
"While some rulebookelements still need to be fleshed out, it is a foundation for strengthening theParis Agreement and could help facilitate U.S. re-entry into the ParisAgreement by a future presidential administration," said Alden Meyer ofthe Union of Concerned Scientists.
AMBITION, AMBITION, AMBITION
Some countries and green groupscriticised the outcome for failing to urge increased ambitions on emissionscuts sufficiently to curb rising temperatures. Poorer nations vulnerable toclimate change also wanted more clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion ayear of climate finance by 2020 will be provided and on efforts to build onthat amount further from the end of the decade.
A statement by U.N.Secretary-General António Guterres, who left the talks on Thursday, stressedthe need for more work.
"From now on, my five prioritieswill be: ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition and ambition," it said.
"And ambition must guide allmember states as they prepare their (emissions cut plans) for 2020 to reversethe present trend in which climate change is still running faster than us."
A U.N.-commissioned report by the IPCC in October warned that keeping the Earth's temperature rise to 1.5 degreesC would need "unprecedented changes" in every aspect of society.
Last week, Saudi Arabia, theUnites States, Russia and Kuwait refused to use the word "welcome" inassociation with the findings of the report.
