COP21: Obstacles to Climate Agreement Remain, Says Hollande

French President Francois Hollande admitted Thursday morning that obstacles remain in the way of a climate deal, only one day before the world summit on climate change closes in Paris.

“There are still difficulties, we know them, about the funding, and its distribution,” he said during a meeting with religious authorities.

“There is also some resistance about the loss and damages point, among others,” said Hollande, adding that countries did not want to agree to long-term commitments that could not be met.

A new draft agreement was to be submitted Thursday afternoon to the 195 countries in charge of negotiating a universal deal to address climate change, said Matthieu Orphelin of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation. “The night was short. We are ahead of a big day again, but we can make it,” he said.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was also confident in the progress made Wednesday night, saying the draft should be the last one before a final agreement.

Representatives from each country involved now have less than 36 hours to reach consensus on an “ambitious” agreement.

IN DEPTH: Paris COP21 Climate Talks

The lingering disagreements reportedly focus on the amount of money wealthy, developed nations should pay the developing world to adapt to climate changes and how ambitious emissions-reduction targets should be.

Many vulnerable countries insist that they should not be required to contribute to emissions cuts at the same level as countries that industrialized long ago and are thus historically responsible for most of the climate change today.

In a plenary session late Wednesday, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar criticized the latest draft, arguing a durable agreement at Paris could not be crafted by "diluting" historical responsibilities or by putting the polluters and the victims on the same level. Gurdial Singh Nijar, representing Malaysia and speaking in the name of about 20 developing countries, said the draft was undermining the “common but differentiated responsibility principle” agreed to in 1992 as part of the U.N. Framework Convention.

Kumi Naidoo, head of the environmental group Greenpeace, urged leaders to think about future generations rather that national economic interests, saying “we have to stop playing political poker with the future of our children and their children in the last 24 hours or so of these negotiations.”