New, shorter draft of climate accord released

The 27-page draft, two pages shorter than a previous one, was released after two days of ministerial consultations

A new shorter draft incorporating many key issues raised by India like "sustainable lifestyle" was unveiled after intense negotiations here as the crucial climate change conference enters into the final stretch of talks.

The 27-page draft, two pages shorter than a previous one, was released yesterday after two days of ministerial consultations and incorporates major progress as well as differences.

The draft presented by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius includes key issues which India has raised like "sustainable lifestyle", principles based on equity and common but differentiated responsibilities as is there in the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"On the eve of the stated end of our conference, we can move to a decisive step to reach a final agreement. I am submitting a new draft to you (nations)," Fabius said.

"I would like you (nations) to look at the document in a new perspective with final agreement in mind. We want an agreement. We are extremely close to finishing line. Is time to come to an agreement," Fabius said.

However various environmental groups said that what has appeared in the draft "is not good enough" and the clock is ticking as the ministers need to resolve the final outstanding issues.

The fresh draft negotiating text is now under deliberation by the ministers to reach a UN accord to curb green house gas emissions.

"The document is slightly shorter. There are some brackets. Some complex issues still remain brackets like finance, differentiation and ambition which needs to be discussed in the coming hours," Fabius said.

The draft was circulated to nations at one of the session which was convened here late in the night. Nations are presently having hectic parleys which might go till early morning here to sort out the key issues.

India has earlier attacked the developed countries for adopting "extravagant" lifestyles compared to its "need based consumption" and has been asserting that that only "sustainable" lifestyles can mitigate the climate change challenge.

Sources in the Indian government said that although many issues raised by the country have found a place, there are still some issues that needed to be worked out.

Terming yesterday's meeting as an "important" one, Fabius said that each party was able to express its opinion about the draft and the interventions were useful to clarify the detail of the text.

"It was a long and intensive night of work. This allowed us to make progress," Fabius said, adding that it was convened to seek "landing zones" for the final agreement.