End of fossil fuel era nears

A global accord to tame global warming pending approval at UN talks in Paris yesterday would be a huge blow to the fossil-fuel industry, Greenpeace and other prominent environment groups said.

"The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned. This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history," Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said.

Greenpeace, major green groups and climate change researchers gave a mixed report card on the many details in the planned accord.

But they emphasised that by striving to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution temperatures, the draft accord would have an impact.

"That single number, and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states," Naidoo predicted.

Researchers and activists declared that the agreement, if it is adopted by ministers, would make history.

May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, an organisation pressing financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels, also said the 1.5C reference was key.

"This marks the end of the era of fossil fuels. There is no way to meet the targets laid out in this agreement without keeping coal, oil and gas in the ground," Boeve said.

"The text should send a clear signal to fossil fuel investors: divest now."

But Tim Gore, policy director at British charity Oxfam, said the attaining 1.5C would require an unprecedented global effort.

The emissions reduction plans submitted by some 185 nations ahead of the talks have put Earth on a path to least about 3.0C degrees of warming.

"The 1.5C degree target is an important moral victory, but -- as we have heard -- it may yet ring hollow unless we see significant increases in action in the years ahead," Gore said.