India, Brazil resist bid for long-term carbon goals

India, Brazil resist bid for long-term carbon goals

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Attempts to inscribe a longterm goal to phase out carbon emissions in an envisioned global climate pact are facing pushback at U.N. talks from big developing countries including India and Brazil.

Negotiators from both countries said Wednesday they favor sticking to the already established goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial times — a level that scientists say could avoid the worst impacts of climate change. That goal was formally introduced in the U.N. talks in 2010.

But many countries are calling for the Paris deal to include a road map on how to achieve it, such as a joint target for phasing out the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Various options have been proposed. The United States and other members of the Group of Seven wealthy countries earlier this year endorsed a 'decarbonization of the global economy over the course of this century.'

'Decarbonization is something that has appeared recently. We don't even know what that means,' Indian delegate Ajay Mathur told reporters. 'Does it mean zero carbon? Does it mean net zero carbon?'

The term is generally understood to mean sharp reductions of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, but it hasn’t been defined precisely.

Brazil’s lead negotiator Antonio Marcondes told The Associated Press that there was no need to come up with a new joint climate goal.

“The long-term goal is already there: It’s 2 degree Celsius,” he said.

U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres said there was no reason to worry just yet. Negotiations “will go through ups and downs,” she said. “There will be many commas inserted and many commas removed because that is the nature of this.”