Climate negotiations at the UNFCCCC continued in Lima overnight Saturday, December 13. The atmosphere was very tense over seemingly irreconcilable rifts, largely between developed and developing countries over the terms of the proposed architecture of the post-2020 global climate regime. Most of us were starting to worry about the likelihood of any meaningful outcome.

The Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) and the COP presidency worked into the late hours of Saturday night, in order to prepare a text that meets the contending views somewhere in the middle. Around midnight on Saturday, a penultimate draft was proposed. Agreement was secured later in the night, giving rise to the final text. This is the text that will be taken to Paris in November-December 2015.

The agreement is called the Lima Call for Climate Action. The text can be viewed here: http://unfccc.int

Most will be inclined to think that the end result is not good enough. They will argue that it’s a “compromise” text, or that it remains weak on various accounts. The reality is that the Lima outcome is much better than expected, given how tough the negotiation process was since Thursday. It presents a step for the multilateral process to move forward. It holds important promises and also faces challenges.

A more detailed assessment of the agreement will follow, but right now I’m heading to the airport.