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Money tight for Paris climate conference

August 31, 2015

As nations prepare to sign a historic pact to reduce greenhouse emissions in Paris in December, the UN says it is short of cash for the project. It has called for additional funds so the conference can go ahead.

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Image: Getty Images/J. Raedle

The United Nations (UN) admitted on Monday that a cash shortage was hampering plans for a historic climate change conference in Paris at the end of the year.

UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said there was insufficient funding for the next negotiating round of the Conference of Parties (COP), which takes place between November 30 and December 11.

"I regret to inform you that we have a deficit now of 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) just to cover the sessions you have in your calendar," she said, urging nations to contribute more, if they could.

Figueres was addressing delegates in Bonn, Germany, at the opening of a week of key climate negotiations, in preparation for the December meeting.

The COP is charged with concluding a historic pact that will, for the first time, commit all signatories to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN-adopted goal is to limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial revolution levels.

Under the proposed plans, the EU would cut its emissions by 40 percent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. The US would commit to reducing emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels and China would agree to an emissions peak by 2030.

This week's Bonn meeting is one of two sessions tasked with creating a workable draft for what will become the Paris pact.

mm/msh (AFP, dpa)