UN Formally Releases Draft Text With Hopes That It Will Form Basis for Paris Accord

The United Nations March 19 formally communicated the official negotiating text for this year’s Paris climate summit to 196 parties in all six official UN languages.

The move comes nearly six weeks ahead of the official April 30 deadline for this step and five weeks after the text was negotiated in Geneva.

Formal negotiations will not begin until midyear meetings in Bonn start June 1, but from this point informal discussions on specific sections of text can take place.

“It is possible some agreements on some sections can be made in the coming weeks and that will set the stage ...