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A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 13 december 2018

UN chief calls for compromise, sacrifice at climate talks

By FRANK JORDANS areas where countries dis-
Associated Press agree.
KATOWICE, Poland (AP) “Parties are progressing,”
— The United Nations sec- Michal Kurtyka told The As-
retary-general called on sociated Press. “Neverthe-
countries to make com- less it is a very complex, a
promises in tackling global very wide array of issues
warming, amid concern that we are discussing in
that the U.N. conference on parallel at the same time.”
the issue could end without The Dec. 2-14 meeting is
a substantial agreement. supposed to finalize the
In his second dramatic ap- rules that signatories of the
peal at the talks in Poland Paris accord need to follow
in the space of 10 days, An- when it comes to reporting
tonio Guterres told ministers their greenhouse gas emis-
and senior diplomats from sions and efforts to reduce
almost 200 countries they them.
should consider the fate of Jennifer Morgan, the head
future generations. of environmental group
“This is the time for po- Greenpeace, said the
litical compromises to be current drafts contain too
reached,” he said. “This many loopholes to be ef-
means sacrifices, but it will fective, including one pro-
benefit us all collectively.” posal allowing countries to
His call came as the two- choose how to calculate
week meeting in Katowice the amount of emissions
shifted from the technical absorbed by trees when
to political phase, with min- submitting their reports.
isters taking over negotia- “There’s no scientific integ-
tions. rity in that,” Morgan said.
Campaign groups warned Poor countries, meanwhile,
of the risks of failure and Former U.S vice president and climate activist Al Gore makes a speaking during a side event want assurances on finan-
accused powerful play- outside of the COP24 UN Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland, Wednesday, cial support to tackle cli-
ers such as the European Dec. 12, 2018. mate change. Many say
Union of not pushing hard Associated Press they are already seeing the
enough to reach an agree- ing can only be capped ing the move. 1.5-degree target — men- effects of global warming
ment. at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Jean-Pascal Ypersele, a tioned in the 2015 Paris cli- in droughts, floods and oth-
“A new leadership must Fahrenheit) if urgent action former deputy chair of the mate accord — to be rec- er disasters made worse by
step up,” said Vanessa is taken by 2030, including panel, said whether or not ognized in the final text. emissions generated mostly
Perez-Cirera of the environ- a sharp reduction in use of countries believe the re- “It’s a question of survival by developed nations.
mental group WWF. “We fossil fuels. port’s conclusions is irrele- for a large part of human- A third objective of the talks
cannot afford to lose one Endorsing the report by the vant because the science ity, and many other spe- is getting governments to
of the 12 years we have re- Intergovernmental Panel is clear. cies,” he said. make a firm commit to
maining.” on Climate Change be- “Nobody, even the so- The Polish official chairing raising ambitions for ad-
She was referring to a re- came a crunch issue over called superpowers, can the talks circulated a con- dressing climate change
cent scientific report by a the weekend, with the negotiate with the laws of densed draft text Wednes- in the coming two years,
U.N.-backed panel that United States, Russia, Saudi physics,” he said. day that still contained although without precise
suggested global warm- Arabia and Kuwait oppos- Ypersele called for the many question marks in figures.q

What happens with Brexit after May survives leadership vote

By The Associated Press support before Britain’s de- cal parties, including May’s might make it easier for
LONDON (AP) — British parture from the European own. May to persuade the reluc-
Prime Minister Theresa May Union, set for March 29. The Conservatives’ 200-117 tant Parliament to pass the
won a no-confidence vote These are the next steps as no-confidence vote illus- plan.
by lawmakers from her she tries to win approval for trates the deep resistance The main sticking point, as
party Wednesday. Fellow her proposed Brexit deal: she faces. it has been almost from the
Conservatives who object LOBBYING EU LEADERS FOR WHAT KIND OF RECEPTION start of negotiations, is the
to some terms of the Brexit CONCESSIONS CAN MAY EXPECT IN BRUS- post-Brexit border between
deal May’s government May plans to attend a SELS? Northern Ireland, which is
struck with the European two-day summit starting Europe’s key power brokers part of the U.K., and Ire-
Union initiated the chal- Thursday in Brussels and have said they are unwill- land, which is an EU coun-
lenge that would have try to convince remaining ing to renegotiate the le- try.
ended her leadership of EU leaders to sweeten the gally binding agreement Critics in May’s party don’t
both the party and the divorce deal now on the that has been agreed to like how the current deal
country. British Prime Minister Theresa table. by May’s government and proposes dealing with cus-
May said after the results May makes a statement She needs to do so be- the bloc’s other members. toms checks, taxes and
were in that she plans to outside 10 Downing Street, cause strong opposition to However, EU leaders indi- trade issues the U.K. hasn’t
keep pursuing an agree- in London, Wednesday the existing agreement ex- cated willingness this week had to consider as an EU
December 12, 2018.
ment that Parliament will Associated Press ists in all of the U.K.’s politi- to consider statements that member.q