July 19, 2015 6:33 pm

A groundbreaking UN climate-change deal is edging closer, according to a French government document, as countries scramble to avoid a repeat of the last big summit on the issue in 2009, which ended in acrimony.

Diplomats are making more progress than they have formally disclosed in public, although many important differences remain over the precise costs, legality and timing of the deal due to be signed in Paris in December, the five-page paper seen by the Financial Times shows.

This means that any final accord could still be too weak to slow global warming.

However, the paper repeatedly refers to “common understanding” and “shared recognition” on the basic shape of an agreement requiring virtually all countries to take voluntary but progressively tougher action from 2020 to stop global temperatures rising more than 2C from pre-industrial times.

This level of agreement is far from evident in the poorly worded negotiating text produced by weeks of talks this year that Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, has criticised for moving at “a snail’s pace”.

But it supports the view of some observers that a deal is likely in December because so few governments want a repeat of the Copenhagen summit in 2009, which failed to seal a formal treaty.

“I see far greater convergence on the broad outlines of the deal than we ever saw in the time preceding Copenhagen,” said Elliot Diringer, executive vice-president of a US non-profit group, C2ES, that has just finished a year-long consultation with climate negotiators from more than 20 countries.

“I think, in part because of the shock of Copenhagen, we see much greater realism and pragmatism in this process, which is why we’re hopeful,” said Mr Diringer.

The French document was prepared for a two-day informal Paris meeting of ministers representing more than 60 countries, including the EU, starting on Monday and aimed at helping to sharpen the UN negotiations.

It says there is an understanding that any legal agreement will be “short and concise”, while more detailed rules about how it will operate will be set aside in separate decisions.

There is also a recognition that countries should not have to negotiate a new agreement every five or 10 years, but rather that any Paris accord will form the basis for future action.

Laurence Tubiana, France’s chief climate envoy, told the FT the ministerial meeting would in no way pre-empt what might be in a final Paris agreement, but would potentially offer more political guidance for negotiators struggling to deliver a very different type of climate accord.

“This is a very new thing,” she said. “This is a process where countries progressively do more and more over time.”

This was clearly going to be necessary because the pledges countries have made for the Paris conference in December are unlikely to guarantee warming of less than 2C, she said.

“This is a long and deep transformational process that will extend over the next 40 to 50 years and beyond. We need a clear framework of rules to do that.”

Big greenhouse gas polluters, led by China, the US and the EU, have this year published voluntary plans to cut emissions from 2020 that will form the building blocks of the Paris agreement.

The French paper acknowledges that one of the “key political issues” to be resolved is how to make it clear that any Paris agreement will not end with just these first pledges, which the UN concedes are so far not enough to meet the 2C target.

Average global temperatures have already risen by 0.8C and scientists say a 2C rise increases the risk of dangerous changes to the climate, hastening melting ice caps, rising sea levels and extreme weather events.

The paper says another unresolved debate remains over the question of how much money rich countries should channel to developing nations to help them tackle climate change, beyond the $100bn a year that wealthy economies have already said they will muster by 2020.

“Many people are of the view that the finance question is the big, difficult outstanding one right now,” said Valli Moosa, South Africa’s former environment minister, who co-chaired the C2ES consultations with negotiators.

There is also disagreement over whether the accord should contain measures covering the loss and damage that poor countries may suffer because of climate change, which the French paper says is an issue of “very high political importance for several countries”.

“It also raises concerns for some others, especially when it is framed as a liability which would lead to compensation,” the paper adds.

Tony de Brum, foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, said calls from developing countries for more money, and loss and damage coverage, were likely to intensify if large polluters did not cut their emissions enough to slow global warming.

Mr De Brum, whose small Pacific state is at risk from rising sea levels and stronger storms, said: “Higher emissions mean more frequent and serious impacts — something that poor and vulnerable countries are not prepared for.”