How a single word could've derailed the entire climate change pact

Demonstrators near the annual United Nations climate change summit
(Image credit: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

Nearly every nation in the world approved a historic climate change deal Saturday, but getting to that point wasn't easy. One last-minute quibble was over a single word, Politico explains:

Obama administration lawyers discovered early in the day that the latest draft text had a potentially deal-killing tweak: Deep into the document, in Article 4, was a line declaring that wealthier countries "shall" set economy-wide targets for cutting their greenhouse gas pollution. [Politico]

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.

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