COP21: Climate deal 'final draft' reached in Paris

 Organisers of the climate talks in Paris say a final draft text has been reached after nearly two weeks of intensive negotiations.

The main goal is to keep the rise of global temperatures under 2C

An official in the office of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the AFP news agency the draft would be presented to ministers at 10:30 GMT.

No details of the proposed agreement have been released so far. The tentative deal was reached nearly 16 hours after the talks had been scheduled to close.

"We have a text to present," the official said, adding that the draft would be now translated into the UN's six official languages.

Analysts say that this is not a done deal - it will only be finally adopted if there are no objections raised at Saturday morning's ministerial meeting, and even this is unlikely to come before afternoon in the French capital.Mr Fabius, who has presided over the talks, had said earlier that the "conditions were never better" for a strong and ambitious agreement.

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COP21 Live: Final push for climate deal

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Significant progress had been reported on a range of issues, with evidence of real compromise between the parties, the BBC's environment correspondent Matt McGrath in Paris reported earlier.

He added that countries supported a goal of keeping global temperature rises to 2C but agreed to make their best efforts to keep it to 1.5C. However, the language on cutting emissions in the long term was criticised for significantly watering down ambition. 

     Eager delegates leaf through an earlier draft text

 A "No plan B" slogan was displayed at the Eiffel Tower as part of the COP21 forum

The question of different demands on different countries, depending on their wealth and level of development - called "differentiation" at the talks - was said to be the root cause of the difficulties.
Another major difficulty was transparency - richer countries want a single system of measuring, reporting and verifying the commitments countries make as part of this agreement.
It is said to be crucial to the US, which wants to ensure that China is subject to the same sort of oversight as it is. China and India are not keen on this type of oversight.

From BBC News

COP21: Final push for climate deal amid 'optimism'

Negotiators at the Paris summit aim to wrap up a global agreement to curb climate change on Saturday - a day later than expected.

Messages on climate change outside Le Bourget in Paris where talks are taking place

"We are nearly there. I'm optimistic," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is chairing the summit.

Efforts to forge a deal faltered on Friday, forcing the talks to overrun.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the negotiations were the "most complicated, most difficult, but, most important for humanity".

Mr Fabius told reporters in Paris that he would present a new version of the draft text on Saturday morning at 0800 GMT, which he was "sure" would be approved and "a big step forward for humanity as a whole".

"We are almost at the end of the road and I am optimistic," he added.

Live updates on COP21

The summit is entering a final push to try to secure a global agreement that would stake out a long-term strategy for dealing with climate change. However, there are still some unresolved issues.

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What are the sticking points?

• Climate finance: How do countries pay for efforts to reduce, stop and cope with the effects of climate change?
• Differentiation: Related to the finance problem is how do we "differentiate" between developed countries, who can afford to donate money, and developing countries who need support? Richer nations want emerging economies to take on more of the burden of cutting emissions, and providing finance to the very poor nations hit by the impacts of higher temperatures.
• Overall goal: What is the overall target? Should nations try to limit global rises in temperature to 2C or 1.5C or by "well below 2C" - above what they were in pre-industrial times? The global average temperature has already risen by roughly 1C.

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India to ban old trucks and buses to curb pollution

India will ban trucks and buses more than 15 years old to curb record pollution levels, the government says.

Sometimes we have good news too!

Commercial trucks account for more than half of vehicle emissions in India

India's capital, Delhi, is experiencing hazardous levels of pollution due to diesel emissions, construction dirt and the burning of crop stubble in farms around the city.

Air pollution causes more than 600,000 premature deaths in India each year.

India has 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported last year.

The ban will come into effect in April and will be announced in more detail in the next two weeks.

It will include commercial trucks, which account for more than half of India's vehicle emissions.

"It [air pollution] will get worse every year unless we do something," road transport and highways secretary Vijay Chhibber told Reuters.

However, other measures will have to be implemented if India wants to significantly change emissions, experts say.

"Taxes on cars and parking charges should be raised to curtail usage, and public transport should be expanded," said Vivek Chattopadhyay, a pollution expert at the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi.

New car sales are soaring in India, with 1,400 extra cars taking to the capital's streets every day.

Last week India said it would require vehicles to abide by stricter emissions standards by 2019, three years ahead of the previous deadline.

Earlier this month, on the night of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, air pollution in Delhi reached 40 times the limit recommended by the WHO.

From BBC News