Richer countries agree to help poorer ones in climate change agreement
(CNN) -- Nations working on a global treaty to combat climate change and handle its ill effects have come to a basic draft agreement at conference in Lima, Peru.
The elements hammered out in two weeks by about 190 countries at the 20th Conference of Parties (COP20) will serve as the basis for an international climate treaty to be signed in Paris next year, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change said Sunday.
That treaty, which is supposed to detail nations' responsibilities in the fight against climate change, will come into effect in 2020.
The Lima draft announced Sunday determines that developed countries and developing nations will take on differing responsibilities in the fight against global warming "in light of different national circumstances."
The details of those responsibilities are to be determined later.
It also calls on richer countries to help poorer ones finance their goals -- especially countries hurt most by the "adverse effects of climate change" that are working to mitigate that damage.
Initial disagreement between nations over the distribution of responsibilities and costs had brought negotiations to a deadlock, causing the conference to be extended by two days.
A handful of developed and developing countries pledged contributions to the Green Climate Fund -- designed to finance sustainable development -- boosting it to nearly $10.2 billion.
