“Discontent from all sides”: No deal in sight at climate conference Now it’s “official”: Brexit makes Britons poorer

At the world climate conference in Egypt, even on the first day of the extension, no agreement seems to be in sight. “There is equal dissatisfaction from all sides,” said COP chairman Samih Schukri on Saturday in Sharm el-Sheikh. The participants from about 200 countries wanted to discuss a possible final statement. However, a “large majority” said they found the design “balanced” and found the basis for a “potential breakthrough,” Schukri said. It is now up to the participants to come to an agreement.

Schukri avoided the issue of potential failure, such as if individual countries dropped out of negotiations because the text’s climate commitments were too weak. “Each party has the full right to join or not to join a consensus.”

The conference, which has been going on for two weeks, was supposed to end on Friday. After nightly negotiations about various draft texts, she entered extra time on Saturday on the first day.

EU vice at climate summit: better no result than bad result

Vice-Commission Frans Timmermans made it clear at the world climate conference that the EU will not cross certain red lines in its fight for a breakthrough. “It is better to have no result than a bad result,” Timmermans told journalists on Saturday morning at the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

We are deeply concerned about some positions in the negotiations that have dragged on from one day to the next. They will fight to the end to reach an agreement, but if necessary they are willing to leave the conference without explanation.

Ambitious formulations that promote the urgently needed mitigation of climate change are important to the EU. “1.5 degrees should not die here today,” said the climate protection commissioner, in view of the internationally agreed limit to be met to avert the most catastrophic consequences of global warming.

The establishment of a financial pot for climate damage is particularly controversial at the climate conference. The EU is open to an agreement here, but only in line with more ambitious climate targets and the condition that the money only goes to poorer, particularly vulnerable countries. (meg/sda/dpa)