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The draft “is not the defining language that this moment requires,” said Aubrey Webson, president of the Alliance of Small Island States, which is among the countries most threatened by climate change.
The scientists said countries must cut global emissions from fossil fuels in about half this decade to prevent average global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to pre-industrial levels. Beyond this threshold, the risks of deadly heat waves, drought, wildfires, flooding and species extinction increase significantly. The planet has already warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Negotiators from around 200 countries here are likely to demand substantial changes to the draft as negotiations enter their final, most difficult period. By tradition, a new global agreement requires that each party sign it. If any nation objects, talks could be stalemate.
British prime minister Boris Johnson returned to Glasgow on Wednesday to urge countries to set aside differences and reach a deal. “The world has heard leaders from every country stand here and acknowledge the need for action,” he said. “And if we fail to do that, the world will find it absolutely incomprehensible.”
But persuading nations around the world, many of which depend on fossil fuels for energy and have their own domestic policies and vested interests, to move in a new direction is a formidable task..
Mr. Kerry said the countries had no choice but to work together. “This is not optional,” he said. “It’s science, it’s math and physics that determines the path we must travel. And we can’t reach our goal unless everyone works together.”
Several experts said the joint agreement between China and the United States lagged behind an agreement signed in 2014 between the United States and China to jointly reduce emissions, which helped promote the Paris climate agreement a year later among nearly 200 countries.
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