Urgency Grows as U.S. and China Try to End Stalemate

In a day of brinkmanship and seesawing expectations, President Obama met with China’s prime minister, but it was unclear if progress has been made on the issues holding back a climate deal.

The later draft also included a few hard figures about joint emissions cuts of 50 percent by 2050. Developed nations committed to reducing their emissions “individually or jointly by at least 80 percent by 2050.”

All the drafts included a dozen or so enumerated points asserting general commitment to the idea that “climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time” and asserted that “deep cuts” in global emissions are required. The amounts for short-term emissions targets by 2020 remained represented by X’s and Y’s — place holders for later. The drafts also sought to lay out some framework for verification of emissions commitments by developing countries and establish a “high-level panel” to assess financial contributions by rich nations to help poor countries adapt to climate change and limit their emissions.
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I vote for changing that 80% to X’s and Y’s.