Highlights of the Paris climate conference

Le Bourget (France) (AFP) – These are highlights of day three of UN climate talks in Paris, where 195 nations are battling for a deal to protect humanity from a global warming disaster:

– Frustration simmers –

France’s Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, urged negotiators to hurry up as participants reported frustration with the pace of negotiations, with a December 11 deadline looming.

“My message is clear: we must accelerate the process because there is still a lot of work to do,” said Fabius, who is presiding over the talks.

A European negotiator said there was “growing frustration” with the “very slow” pace of work. But UN climate chief Christiana Figueres cautioned against despair: “It is a legally binding text and needs to be reviewed very, very carefully.”

– Money, money, money –

Developing countries said the talks risk foundering without finance commitments from rich nations to help them shift to cleaner, but more expensive, energy sources.

“The Paris outcome must provide clarity on the level of financial support that will be provided by developed country parties,” the G77 and China group of 134 developing nations said in a statement to the 195-nation climate forum.

It called for a “substantial scaling up of finance” over the $100 billion (94 billion euros) a year that rich countries had promised to muster from 2020.

– Investors flee fossil fuels –

Climate campaigners say institutional investors are fleeing fossil fuels even as many major banks continue to pour money into coal.

The number of universities, governments and investment funds that have said they will drop at least some fossil fuels from their portfolios has risen to more than 500 from 181 in a little over a year, said a report by 350.org.

A separate report by green groups including Friends of the Earth said major banks were still lending billions each year to coal mining, with investments in renewables trailing far behind.

– Rich are to blame –

British charity Oxfam says the richest 10 percent of people produce half of Earth’s climate-harming fossil-fuel emissions, while the poorest half contribute a mere 10 percent.

“Rich, high emitters should be held accountable for their emissions, no matter where they live,” Oxfam climate policy head Tim Gore said in a statement.

– Climate video game, CAPMAN –

Green groups Carbon Market Watch and Pixel Impact launch a new interactive video game, starring the hero CAPMAN fighting heat-trapping carbon emissions.

“The aim of the game is to score points by reducing CO2 while avoiding baddies that represent hot air credits and undermine the efforts of CAPMAN,” they said in a statement.

• Nature Environment
• Laurent Fabius