"Draft Treaty Aims for Fossil-Free Future With Many Pages, Few Answers"

"During a week of United Nations climate negotiations in Geneva, the draft of a new treaty got longer and more complex, rather than shorter and simpler as leaders had planned. That may nonetheless represent progress, according to participants and environmentalists.

The document under discussion at the talks, which ended Feb. 13, more than doubled in length to 86 pages, as delegates from more than 190 nations offered one option after another for consideration in the months ahead. Formal talks are scheduled to be held in Bonn in June, September and October before the final meeting of the UN climate apparatus in Paris in December, when the treaty is meant to be completed.

Before the meeting in Geneva, the Algerian and American co-chairs had outlined a scenario that called on delegates to produce a draft text that would be 'more streamlined, concise, manageable and negotiable' –in a word, shorter."

John H. Cushman Jr. reports for InsideClimate News February 13, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

UNFCCC Negotiating Text of February 12 2015