Highlights of the Paris climate conference
Date
12/2/2015 10:40:24 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Visitors walk past animals from a Noah's Arc exhibition at the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Le Bourget near Paris France December 2 2015. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
Le Bourget France: These are highlights of day three of UN climate talks in Paris where 195 nations are battling for a deal to protect humanity from a global warming disaster:
Frustration simmers
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius urged negotiators to hurry up as participants reported frustration with the pace of negotiations with a December 11 deadline looming.
"My message is clear: we must accelerate the process because there is still a lot of work to do" said Fabius who is presiding over the talks.
A European negotiator said there was "growing frustration" with the "very slow" pace of work. But UN climate chief Christiana Figueres cautioned against despair: "It is a legally binding text and needs to be reviewed very very carefully."
Investors flee fossil fuels
Climate campaigners say institutional investors are fleeing fossil fuels even as many major banks continue to pour money into coal.
The number of universities governments and investment funds that have said they will drop at least some fossil fuels from their portfolios has risen to more than 500 from 181 in a little over a year said a report by 350.org.
A separate report by green groups including Friends of the Earth said major banks were still lending billions each year to coal mining with investments in renewables trailing far behind.
Rich are to blame
British charity Oxfam says the richest 10 percent of people produce half of Earth's climate-harming fossil-fuel emissions while the poorest half contribute a mere 10 percent.
"Rich high emitters should be held accountable for their emissions no matter where they live" Oxfam climate policy head Tim Gore said in a statement.
Climate video game CAPMAN
Green groups Carbon Market Watch and Pixel Impact launch a new interactive video game starring the hero CAPMAN fighting heat-trapping carbon emissions.
"The aim of the game is to score points by reducing CO2 while avoiding baddies that represent hot air credits and undermine the efforts of CAPMAN" they said in a statement.
AFP