Paris climate summit faces tougher job after modest Lima deal

(Reuters, 15 Dec 2014) A Paris summit in 2015 will face a tougher task to agree a U.N. deal to slow climate change after the hopes of many that cooperation between Washington and Beijing would be a magic key to end global gridlock dissolved in chaotic preparatory talks in Lima.

At best, Paris may be a chance to reform a sprawling system of annual U.N. talks - more than 11,000 delegates attended the two-week talks in a tent city in Lima - and find ways to boost long-term action to stem rising greenhouse gas emissions.

After a frantic conclusion two days into overtime on Sunday, about 190 governments agreed only to some modest building blocks of a Paris accord despite high expectations for a positive outcome after the China and the United States, the world's top two emitters, last month agreed jointly to limit emissions.

But the political momentum of the deal gave way to the familiar divisions and "red lines" that routinely bog down talks, especially on the question of how to differentiate the responsibilities of rich and poor countries.

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Reuters, 15 Dec 2014: Paris climate summit faces tougher job after modest Lima deal