Climate negotiators postpone decision on carbon markets

The negotiators at the United Nations climate talks decided to postpone the decision on international carbon markets at the end of the two-week negotiations, The Associated Press reported Sunday. 

The talks ended Sunday, two days later than planned, with a general call to combat climate change, as polluter countries did not want to increase efforts to decrease greenhouse gases, the AP reported. The approved measure called for an “urgent need” to reduce greenhouse gases in line with the 2015 Paris accord goals and did not require countries to have more ambitious plans to do so next year. 

The delegates from nearly 200 countries did decide to implement steps to assist poor countries in their attempts to adjust to climate change, according to the AP.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “disappointed” with the outcome of the conference.

“The international community lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation and finance to tackle the climate crisis,” he said, according to the AP. “We must not give up and I will not give up.”

The 2015 Paris accords aim to reduce the temperature rise for this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The global temperature is currently on track to rise 3 to 4 degrees Celsius in the next century.

The European Union and other developing countries had previously said before the postponement that they would rather have no deal than a bad one. The European Union has also agreed to go carbon neutral by 2050.

President Trump removed the U.S. from the Paris accords.