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| Climate change talks agree details to implement Paris deal | Climate change talks agree details to implement Paris deal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Nearly 200 nations have agreed rules on implementing the 2015 Paris agreement. | Nearly 200 nations have agreed rules on implementing the 2015 Paris agreement. |
| After marathon talks in the Polish city of Katowice the rulebook was approved unanimously on Saturday evening. | |
| The Paris deal is due to comes into force in 2020. The Katowice agreement aims to deliver the Paris goals of limiting global temperature rises to well below 2C. | |
| The closing session was delayed by more than 30 hours amid a stand-off over carbon markets to reduce emissions. | |
| Some accused the hosts of not shepherding the agreement through. | |
| "Putting together the Paris agreement work programme is a big responsibility," said the chairman of the talks, known as COP24, Michal Kurtyka. | |
| "It has been a long road. We did our best to leave no-one behind." | |
| Rich nations often reduce emissions by paying for carbon-cutting projects in other countries. But these programmes are very difficult to police. | Rich nations often reduce emissions by paying for carbon-cutting projects in other countries. But these programmes are very difficult to police. |
| Fraud and double accounting have rendered many of them worthless - they are often dubbed hot air schemes. | |
| The common rulebook envisages flexibility for poorer nations. | |
| Developing countries seek recognition and compensation for the impact of rising temperatures. | |
| The idea of being legally liable for causing climate change has long been rejected by richer nations, who fear huge bills well into the future. | |
| Last weekend, scientists and delegates were shocked when the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected to the meeting "welcoming" a recent UN report on keeping global temperature rise to within the 1.5C limit. | |
| The report said the world is now completely off track, heading more towards 3C this century. | |
| Keeping to the preferred goal would need "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society". | |
| What did the delegates focus on? | |
| Representatives from 196 states took part in the talks. They were trying to sort out some very tricky questions about the rulebook of the Paris agreement. | |
| These are the regulations that will govern the nuts and bolts of how countries cut carbon, provide finance to poorer nations and ensure that everyone is doing what they say they are doing. | |
| It sounds easy but is very technical, says the BBC's Matt McGrath in Katowice. Countries often have different definitions and timetables for their carbon cutting actions, says our science correspondent. | |
| Poorer countries want some "flexibility" in the rules so that they are not overwhelmed with regulations that they don't have the capacity to put into practice. | |
| What about cutting carbon faster? | |
| There has been a big push for countries to up their ambition, to cut carbon deeper and with greater urgency. | |
| Many delegates want to see a rapid increase in ambition before 2020 to keep the chances of staying under 1.5C alive. | |
| Right now, the plans that countries lodged as part of the Paris agreement don't get anywhere near that, described as "grossly insufficient" by one delegate from a climate vulnerable country. | |
| Business is also looking for a signal from this meeting about the future, says our correspondent. | |
| "Companies are ready to invest and banks are ready to finance," said Carlos Salle from Spanish energy conglomerate, Iberdrola. | |
| "So we need that greater ambition in the policy to enable business to move further and faster." |