Never before a global summit has acquired so much importance, at least not in recent times, and rarely have we looked at a summit with so much hope and fear. Some 150 world leaders including US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are preparing to fly to the French capital to open the COP 21 negotiations which begin tomorrow and aim to produce an international deal to reduce carbon emissions that will kick in from 2020. The world is hoping that the leaders will arrive at a deal this time, and there is fear about the consequences if the leaders fail to agree. So is much is at stake that marches were taken out worldwide yesterday to put pressure on leaders to arrive at a pact to avert a climate catastrophe. From Australia to New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Japan, people came on to the streets in what could be called the beginning of a series of popular protests pleading for world powers to overcome the hurdles when the UN climate summit officially opens in Paris tomorrow. Protest organisers say they expect hundreds of thousands to take to the streets worldwide this weekend ,with rallies planned for today in Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Kiev and Mexico City.
The goal of the Paris summit, which is due to end on December 11, is to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and perhaps less, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change. If they fail, what awaits is a world that will be increasingly inhospitable to human life, with storms, drought and rising sea levels that swamp vast areas of land threatening millions of lives.
After two decades of talks that failed to slow the relentless pace of global warming, a deal is expected in this summit. The last attempt to forge a global deal -- the 2009 Copenhagen summit -- foundered upon divisions between rich and poor countries. The hurdles this time range from financing for climate-vulnerable countries to scrutiny of commitments to cut greenhouse gases and even the legal status of a deal.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he was optimistic of success, but reiterated the need for compromise from all sides to make an accord possible. “I am urging the world leaders that they must agree on the middle ground, there is no such perfect agreement in this world,” Ban told France 24 television yesterday.
The world has rarely seen summits of this scale and scope. The Paris conference will gather some 40,000 people, including 10,000 delegates from 195 countries.
Never before a global summit has acquired so much importance, at least not in recent times, and rarely have we looked at a summit with so much hope and fear. Some 150 world leaders including US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are preparing to fly to the French capital to open the COP 21 negotiations which begin tomorrow and aim to produce an international deal to reduce carbon emissions that will kick in from 2020. The world is hoping that the leaders will arrive at a deal this time, and there is fear about the consequences if the leaders fail to agree. So is much is at stake that marches were taken out worldwide yesterday to put pressure on leaders to arrive at a pact to avert a climate catastrophe. From Australia to New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Japan, people came on to the streets in what could be called the beginning of a series of popular protests pleading for world powers to overcome the hurdles when the UN climate summit officially opens in Paris tomorrow. Protest organisers say they expect hundreds of thousands to take to the streets worldwide this weekend ,with rallies planned for today in Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Kiev and Mexico City.
The goal of the Paris summit, which is due to end on December 11, is to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and perhaps less, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change. If they fail, what awaits is a world that will be increasingly inhospitable to human life, with storms, drought and rising sea levels that swamp vast areas of land threatening millions of lives.
After two decades of talks that failed to slow the relentless pace of global warming, a deal is expected in this summit. The last attempt to forge a global deal -- the 2009 Copenhagen summit -- foundered upon divisions between rich and poor countries. The hurdles this time range from financing for climate-vulnerable countries to scrutiny of commitments to cut greenhouse gases and even the legal status of a deal.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he was optimistic of success, but reiterated the need for compromise from all sides to make an accord possible. “I am urging the world leaders that they must agree on the middle ground, there is no such perfect agreement in this world,” Ban told France 24 television yesterday.
The world has rarely seen summits of this scale and scope. The Paris conference will gather some 40,000 people, including 10,000 delegates from 195 countries.
