Time for parties in Paris to show the world they mean business - Damian Ryan

Damian Ryan.

Negotiations continued to move slowly on Friday at COP21, as officials began their final round of discussions before the process moves to the ministerial level from tomorrow.

The day began with the release of a new text that brought back into a single document all the different issues that spin-off groups have been working on over the week. Two versions of the document were released, a shorter 38-page paper that included ‘bridging proposals’ by facilitators and a longer 46-page compilation document.

Through the afternoon and into the evening a single group met to narrow down options ahead of tomorrow’s noon deadline for wrapping up the work of officials. Parties considered proposals to streamline the twin texts in order to come up with a cleaner, shorter, single document. Progress continued to be slow (or “slightly faster than normal slow” as one observer put it) with brackets remaining around many sections late on Friday.

Read what the of Head of International Policy, The Climate Group, Damian Ryan, writes about the 21st UN climate conference, COP21, in Paris - “COP21: Time for parties to show the world the mean business.”