Negotiators released a six-page draft of a climate treaty Friday that calls for limiting global temperature increases to 2.7 to 3.6 degrees F and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050. The draft, distilled from a 180-page document, now becomes the focus of negotiations as leaders from 110 nations descend on Copenhagen next week in an effort to forge a treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The draft left many questions unanswered, as it called for reductions in greenhouse gases by mid-century ranging from 50 to 95 percent. It makes clear that wealthy nations must bear the main responsibility for slashing CO2 emissions in the next decade, stipulating that they set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas output by 25 to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Current pledges add up to about an 18 percent reduction. The draft text does not require developing countries, including China and India, to agree to specific emissions reductions targets, but states that they “may undertake autonomous mitigation actions” to limit the increase of their emissions. Negotiators had set a target of holding global temperature rises to 2 degrees C (3.6 F). But pressure from island nations — which face inundation as sea levels rise — and poor nations persuaded negotiators to set a maximum temperature target ranging from 1.5 degrees C (2.7 F) to 2 degrees C.
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