Key Points:
The reaction of those parties to the challenge presented
by these latest drafts at COP21 will determine whether an agreement
is achieved.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 9 December, the French presidency
of the COP released the latest draft of the proposed Paris
Agreement and decision text for the COP to give effect to that
agreement.
At first glance, the drafts represent a significant effort by
the parties to resolve outstanding issues in the rapidly
diminishing time left at the conference. The agreement and decision
text, along with additional text for an alternative preamble which
provides for scaling up of pre-2020 ambition, are now 29 pages in
total, with a significant reduction in the amount of bracketed text
and options from the previous drafts. However it appears that the
French presidency has thrown down the gauntlet to all parties by
removing a lot of text, with initial reactions suggesting that this
has caught some member countries out. The
