News

Paris - 9 December 2015

Today a new draft agreement was presented by the COP21 French Presidency to Ministers as a basis for negotiation. The clock is ticking with only two days left before the end of COP21.

Significant progress has been made on the Preambule, adaptation, technology transfer and forests but hot-buttons issues still need to be resolved, especially on mitigation and finance.

For Philip Jennings, Secretary General of UNI Global Union, "Ministers have 24 hours to lift their game. They can do better than this."

 The unprecedented level of mobilization that that took place today inside COP21 shows that the elite that is negotiating the deal has to reconnect with people. Paris 2015 has to deliver an ambitious and binding deal to save the planet and humanity from climate change.

 For Sharan Burrow,  ITUC General Secretary, "The new draft leaves all the key issues unresolved; an ambitious long term goal, a solid review mechanism, solid financial commitments to and beyond 2020 and a commitment to implement human rights and just transition - all yet to be addressed and determined. Ministers need to go back to the negotiating table."

Ministers need to clearly commit to additional and predictable levels of funding for developing countries, with 100 billion US dollars a year as a floor to be reached by 2020 and more financial resources for developing countries beyond this date.

 In terms of mitigation, the world needs  the highest level of ambition towards a zero carbon economy with 100% renewables by 2100 and clear pathways for drastically cutting emissions before 2020 and 2050. The national targets have to be legally binding upon each Party to actually translate into concrete action at the country level.

The global trade union movement will keep watching the negotiations taking place tonight and hold political leaders accountable for their decisions.