Don’t be asleep: Activists press for global pact

LE BOURGET, France (AP) – The latest news related to the U.N. climate conference outside Paris, which runs through Dec. 11. All times local:
2:10 p.m.
Activists have a new way of trying to increase pressure on negotiators at the Paris climate talks – with caricatures of big-headed world leaders and piped-in voices from people around the world who want a robust agreement to fight global warming.
Advocacy group Oxfam performed a skit Thursday at the talks with protesters wearing oversized “big head” masks representing world leaders. The big heads slept as an alarm clock rang, trying to rouse them to act to slow down climate change – but the heads stayed asleep.
Nearby, a pyramid of boxes and speakers broadcast voices recorded by activist group Avaaz. A cacophony of languages and pleas resonated in an effort to remind negotiators of concerns of people from countries vulnerable to rising seas and increasingly extreme weather caused in part by man-made carbon emissions.
Many activist groups want the Paris accord to call for an end to fossil fuel use in the long term and to back firm pledges by rich countries to help poor countries pay for future damages caused by climate change.
2 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Paris climate talks are “getting down to the critical stage,” as he meets negotiators from developing countries at the high-stakes conference.
Meeting Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Kerry said “we need to work on language and that’s what most of today and tonight will be.”
He and Javadekar didn’t elaborate on differences in their positions. Many sticking points remain among delegations over which countries should take the most responsibility for fighting man-made global warming.
Javadekar said, “We have discussed all issues and whatever the differing views on different positions and we are working toward … because we want Paris to succeed. We want future generations to get a right and good deal from Paris and to that end we work, and I think today’s meeting was a productive meeting.”
Kerry is also meeting negotiators from Brazil and Malaysia on Thursday, and will meet later with talks host, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
11:30 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with the environment ministers of two of the largest developing nations as negotiators try to hammer out details of a global accord on climate change by the end of the week.
Kerry was holding talks at the Le Bourget conference site outside of Paris on Thursday with the environment ministers of Brazil and India, according to the State Department. No details of the meetings were immediately available but Brazil and India are among the biggest nations demanding that richer countries pay and do more to reduce carbon emissions.
Kerry is expected to meet with numerous other negotiators who produced a 29-page draft agreement on Wednesday. Much more remains to be resolved to get a final deal by Friday’s self-imposed deadline.
11:05 a.m.
Diplomats and climate negotiators worked almost until dawn and have now resumed talks, narrowing down options in a 29-page draft of a global accord to tackle climate change a day before a self-imposed deadline for the unprecedented agreement.
A French diplomat said talks outside Paris continued until about 5 a.m. Thursday (0400 GMT, 11 p.m. EST Wednesday) before resuming midmorning.
The diplomat said a new draft of the accord is expected to be released sometime Thursday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
The French organizers of the two-week talks want a final agreement by Friday night, though U.N. climate conferences rarely end on time.
The draft released Wednesday left major issues unresolved.