Talks wrap up amid US opposition
UN negotiations on how to implement the climate-rescue Paris Agreement wrap up in Bonn Friday, after two weeks of talks unnerved by an American defence of fossil fuels.
President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the hard-fought global pact cast a long shadow over talks marked by revived divisions between rich and developing countries.
Key disagreements revolve around how to share out responsibilities for drawing down greenhouse gas emissions, and the money required to do so.
Not helping the mood, White House officials hosted a sideline event with energy company bosses Monday to defend the continued use of fossil fuels -- coal, oil and natural gas -- that emit planet-warming and climate-altering gases when burned.
Unsettled by America's participation at the talks, delegates complained that not enough progress was made in developing a nuts-and-bolts "rulebook" for executing provisions in the Paris Agreement, which enters into force in just three years.
The Paris Agreement, adopted to cheers and champagne in 2015, commits countries to limiting average global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over Industrial Revolution levels, and 1.5 C if possible, to avert worst-case-scenario climate change.
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