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6C Sunday, December 16, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
WORLD
Nations at climate talks back universal emissions rules
LUCA BRUNO I Associated Press
Smoke billows from a chimney of the Solvay factory for production and
processing of plastic materials, in Ospiate, near Milan, Italy, Friday, Dec. 14.
BY FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press
KATOWICE, Poland - After
two weeks of bruising negotiations,
officials from almost 200 countries
agreed Saturday on universal,
transparent rules that will govern
efforts to cut emissions and curb
global warming. Fierce disagree
ments on two other climate issues
were postponed a year to bridge a
chasm of opinions on solutions.
The deal agreed upon at U.N. cli
mate talks in Poland enables coun
tries to put into action the principles
in the 2015 Paris climate accord.
But to the frustration of envi
ronmental activists and some
countries who were urging more
ambitious climate goals, negotia
tors delayed decisions on two key
issues until next year in an effort to
get a deal on them.
“Through this package, you
have made a thousand little steps
forward together,” said Michal
Kurtyka, a senior Polish official
chairing the talks.
He said while each individual
country would likely find some
parts of the agreement it didn’t like,
efforts had been made to balance
the interests of all parties.
“We will all have to give in order
to gain,” he said. “We will all have
to be courageous to look into the
future and make yet another step
for the sake of humanity.”
The talks in Poland took place
against a backdrop of growing
concern among scientists that
global warming on Earth is pro
ceeding faster than governments
are responding to it. Last month,
a study found that global warming
will worsen disasters such as the
deadly California wildfires and the
powerful hurricanes that have hit
the United States this year.
And a recent report by the Inter
governmental Panel on Climate
Change, or IPCC, concluded that
while it’s possible to cap global
warming at 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit
by the end of the century compared
to pre-industrial times, this would
require a dramatic overhaul of the
global economy, including a shift
away from fossil fuels.
Alarmed by efforts to include
this in the final text of the meet
ing, the oil-exporting nations of
the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait blocked an endorsement of
the IPCC report mid-way through
this month’s talks in the Polish city
of Katowice. That prompted an
uproar from vulnerable countries
like small island nations and envi
ronmental groups.
The final text at the U.N. talks
omits a previous reference to spe
cific reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions by 2030, and merely wel
comes the “timely completion” of
the IPCC report, not its conclusions.
Last-minute snags forced nego
tiators in to go into extra time, after
Friday’s scheduled end of the con
ference passed without a deal.
A major sticking point was how to
create a functioning market in car
bon credits. Economists believe an
international trading system could
be an effective way to drive down
greenhouse gas emissions and raise
large amounts of money for mea
sures to curb global warming.
But Brazil wanted to keep the
piles of carbon credits it had
amassed under an old system that
developed countries say wasn’t
credible or transparent.
Among those that pushed back
hardest was the U.S., despite Presi
dent Donald Trump’s decision to
pull out of the Paris climate accord
and promote the use of coal.
Australia recognizes west Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital, but won’t move embassy
Associated Press
Visitors evacuated,
animals moved after
fire at British zoo
Associated Press
Australia decided to for
mally recognize west Jeru
salem as Israel’s
capital, but won’t
move its embassy
until a peace settle
ment between Israel
and the Palestinians,
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison announced
Saturday.
Morrison said in
a speech that Aus
tralia would recognize east
Jerusalem as Palestine’s
capital only after a settle
ment has been reached on a
two-state solution. The Aus
tralian Embassy won’t be
moved from Tel Aviv until
such a time, he said.
While the embassy move
is delayed, Morrison said his
government would establish
a defense and trade office in
Jerusalem and would also
start looking for an appro
priate site for the embassy.
“The Australian govern
ment has decided that Aus
tralia now recognizes west
Jerusalem, as the seat of
the Knesset and many of the
institutions of government,
is the capital of Israel,” Mor
rison said.
He said the deci
sion respects both
a commitment to
a two-state solu
tion and long
standing respect
for relevant U.N.
Security Council
resolutions.
Australia
becomes the third country
to recognize Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital, following
the U.S. and Guatemala.
Unlike its predecessors,
however, Australia recog
nized only the western part
of the city. The move, there
fore, is unlikely to please
either side entirely.
For the Palestinians, it
offers a partial resolution to
an issue they believe should
be resolved through negotia
tions. That decision is soft
ened by recognizing their
claim to east Jerusalem.
The Israelis welcome
recognition of Jerusalem as
their capital, but the Aus
tralian decision falls far
short of their claim to all of
the city. Refusing to include
east Jerusalem, home to the
city’s most important reli
gious sites, is likely to upset
Israeli nationalists who dom
inate Prime Minister Benja
min Netanyahu’s coalition.
Israel’s foreign ministry
commended Australia’s
move as “a step in the right
direction.” In a statement,
it also praised the Austra
lian government’s stance
against anti-Semitism and
its pro-Israel position at the
U.N.
Palestinian official Saeb
Erekat slammed Australia’s
“irresponsible policies”
that led to the recognition.
“The policies of this Aus
tralian administration have
done nothing to advance the
two-state solution,” Erekat
said in a statement, stress
ing the Palestinian view
that the holy city remains a
final-status issue in Israeli-
Palestinian peace talks,
which have run aground.
Morrison had earlier
floated the idea that Aus
tralia may follow the
contentious U.S. move of
relocating its embassy to
Jerusalem from Tel Aviv,
but it was seen by many
Australians as a political
stunt. Critics called it a cyni
cal attempt to win votes in a
by-election in October for a
Sydney seat with a high Jew
ish population.
The consideration had
sparked backlash from
Muslim-majority Indonesia
and Malaysia, threatening a
free trade deal that has now
been delayed.
Opposition leader Bill
Shorten said the decision to
recognize west Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital but not
move the embassy there
was a “humiliating back
down” from the October by-
election campaign.
“What I’m worried is that
Mr. Morrison put his politi
cal interest ahead of our
national interest,” Shorten
told reporters.
LONDON —A fire broke
out Saturday in an enclosure
at one of Britain’s largest
zoos, forcing keepers to evac
uate visitors and move ani
mals away from the flames.
Witnesses said the blaze
broke out about 11:30 a.m.
in the Monsoon Forest habi
tat area, with winds fanning
flames in the building’s inflat
able roof. The zoo, which is
near Chester, south of the
English city of Liverpool, did
not give a cause for the fire.
The zoo worked with
emergency services to bring
the situation under control.
“Critically endangered
Sumatran orangutans and
other mammals are all
accounted for,” the zoo said
on Twitter. “We are working
hard to account for all other
species.”
The zoo describes the
Monsoon Forest exhibit
as the largest indoor zoo
exhibit ever built in Britain,
offering a chance to explore
a sub-tropical world filled
with creatures ranging from
small insects to crocodiles.
It also contains exotic plants
and palm trees in a climate
that mimics Southeast Asia
and has raised walkways and
underwater viewing areas.
“We were very worried for
the people and animals that
would have been in the build
ing,” said David Clough, who
lives across the road from
the structure. “Orangutans
and gibbons are our nearest
neighbors there, but there
are many other animals,
including free-flying birds. ”
The zoo, which opened in
1931, has some 15,000 ani
mals, CEO Mark Pilgrim
said on its website. It cares
for 500 different species,
about half of which are
endangered, and supports
and conducts 70 conserva
tion projects at home and
abroad.
Morrison
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