Two weeks of climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland, are entering the final phase. Representatives of all countries are discussing how global warming could be limited to less than two degrees compared to pre-industrial levels - a goal that the world committed to achieving in the World Climate Agreement three years ago in Paris.

The conference should end on Friday evening, but could be extended. What are the negotiations, what can be expected?

The destinations in Katowice:

  • Rules for the world climate agreement should be developed. For example, these should ensure that states' climate protection plans are comparable and verifiable. The different responsibilities of states for climate change should also be taken into account.
  • Grants for poor countries should be regulated.
  • The latest UN climate report should be recognized as the basis for political decisions.

The task: Contracting authorities, on which there is no agreement between the states, are provided with square brackets. Although delegates had been preparing the regulations for two years in negotiations, there was still a lot of work to be done at the beginning of the Katowice conference - 1908 brackets in the regulations had to be removed. The nine-page chapter on national climate goals, for example, contained 190 square brackets. And at the beginning of the Katowice conference, the chapter on finance had eleven pages and 185 square brackets.

The first setback: A study published at the beginning of the Climate Conference showed that global greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase in 2018. The pressure on the delegates increased.

The second setback: The international community could not agree on a "welcome" of the climate report - four states wanted only a "notice". An unexpected backseat that kept the climate conference busy until the end.

Replenished aid funds: developed countries are fulfilling their commitments to help poor countries - to better prepare for weather extremes and to convert to renewable energies. Germany announced that it would double the German contribution to the Green Climate Fund to 1.5 billion euros. Nevertheless, developing countries complain that rich states "are far from making enough money".

Half-time trick: After a week, the Polish conference leaders resorted to a well-tried trick - they divided the negotiations into chapters. Two group leaders - one from an industrialized country, one from a poorer state - should each free their chapter as possible of contradictions.

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Dispute over money: A German Secretary of State, together with an Egyptian colleague, led the finance group. To what extent can donor countries make long-term funding commitments as they demand from developing countries? Donor countries refer to the budgetary power of parliaments, which is why pledges for a long period of time are not possible.

Controversy over responsibility: Emerging economies such as China and India emphasize the historic major debt of the industrialized nations to climate change, they are opposed to the fact that the same obligations should apply to them - even though these two Asian countries in the meantime are also pumping huge quantities of greenhouse gases into the air. Poor countries also insist that damage and losses due to climate change be taken into account.

Südseebrauch: In order to make the dialogue between states more friendly, the delegates met in small groups for the "Talanoa Dialogue" in the custom of the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands, in order to "tell each other stories in mutual respect", thus presenting their positions without argument , The respect was respected, the problems remained - "the climate protection is far from sufficient," it says in the final document of the Talanoa dialogue.

Spirit of Katowice: Unlike at the legendary climate conference in Paris in 2015, where all states sought to reach an agreement, some countries in Katowice openly showed their skepticism for an ambitious set of rules, especially Arab oil states, the US, and surprisingly, Russia.

Spirit of Paris: In the middle of the second week of the negotiations, island states threatened by sea-level rise and some Western industrialized states insisted on their alliance that made the Paris climate treaty possible three years ago: the "High Ambition Coalition" was once again set for a breakthrough However, without the US on board, it made less impact than in 2015, the sworn "Spirit of Paris" vanished.

Moment of truth: In the night to Friday, the Polish negotiating board presented the result of the working groups. The abridged chapters were pieced together into a draft contract of 144 pages. In 181 places, which are provided with square brackets, the delegates now have to negotiate further, there the working groups could not agree.

Final Poker : The square brackets are used as a kind of poker chips for the negotiators, who exchange them for each other. If you want an advantage at one point, you have to give in elsewhere. The negotiations in Katowice could last until Saturday.