Ahmed Djoghlaf and Dan Reifsnyder reject “misperception” their earlier version of a global warming agreement was biased towards developed countries
By Alex Pashley and Megan Darby in Paris
The two men steering negotiations in Paris towards a global climate deal are promising a new agreement text by Saturday.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, an Algerian diplomat, and Dan Reifsnyder from the US told Climate Home they were committed to getting the technical work done before ministers arrive next week.
“One of the recipes for disaster is to have ministers or heads of state negotiating and the experts negotiating downstairs,” said Djoghlaf.
Following a last few days of talks with national envoys, they aim to knock the document into shape ready for politicians to thrash out the final issues.
Last time the two co-chairs produced a slimmed-down draft text, in October, it was rejected by the G77 developing country bloc as biased towards the rich. Subsequent additions swelled the page count from 20 to more than 50.
Djoghlaf dismissed the “misperception” they favoured any particular group, insisting that the document “achieved its objective” as a basis for discussion.
There will be “no surprises” in Saturday’s version, Reifsnyder added.