PARIS;:Nearly 150 world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi gathered here today to attend the official start of the much-anticipated climate summit aimed at reaching a historic deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
The summit is being held under the shadow of the deadly Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people two weeks ago. About 2,800 police and soldiers will secure the conference site and more than 6,000 have been deployed in the city.
Besides Modi, other leaders including US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will attend the opening ceremony of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) tasked with reaching the first truly universal climate pact.
The 12-day Paris climate conference will, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C over pre-industrial temperatures.
Scientists estimate that if the world warms by more than 2°C on average above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, the effects of climate change will become catastrophic and irreversible.
A 2°C limit has long been the goal of UN climate conferences, and current pledges from all countries are estimated to lead to warming of 2.7 °C to 3°C, although the proposed deal has a provision for increased emissions cuts in future.
Before the talks, countries like China and India have laid out plans for cuts or curbs to their emissions. These will form the centrepiece of any deal.
The most difficult issues include working out how to share the burden of taking action between rich and poor nations, how to finance the cost of adapting to global warming and the legal format of any final text.
With more than 180 countries having already submitted their plans to reduce the harmful emissions that cause climate change, Obama expressed optimism over the success of the Paris Summit.
“I am optimistic about what we can achieve – because I’ve already seen America take incredible strides these past seven years,” Obama said before leaving for Paris.
Ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Modi had said that it is the responsibility of all to work against global warming.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon underlined the need for a durable universal deal to address rising green house gas emissions.
Twenty countries, including India, the US and China, have already decided to launch an initiative to double their clean energy research and development budget over the next five years as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.
Modi will inaugurate the Indian pavilion showcasing
India’s harmony with nature, environment and commitment to mitigate climate change.
Modi will also jointly launch the International Solar Alliance with French President Francois Hollande tomorrow.
Several heads of state, heads of government and ministers of several countries and UN Secretary General are expected to be present at the launch of the international solar alliance, a concept conceived by Modi.
The gathering of nearly 150 heads of state and government is set to be far bigger than the 115 or so who came to Copenhagen in 2009, the last time the world came close to agreeing a long term deal on climate change.
As observers said the recent terror attack here will increase the chances of a new agreement, thousands of protesters yesterday joined hands near the heart of the carnage, demanding world leaders try to save Earth from a climate catastrophe.
The human chain was aimed to send a highly symbolic message to leaders on the eve of the official opening of the 195-nation UN climate summit.
President Obama will meet Prime Minister Modi today as part of the US’ effort to work with “key players” for a strong global deal on climate change.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Power Minister Piyush Goyal will also be present at the summit.
On the climate change issue, India has been saying that developed countries have been the major polluters over centuries and should assume greater role in fighting global warming by funding and transferring low-cost technology to developing nations.
Ahead of the climate change summit, India and a host of other countries have pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions by up to 35 per cent from the 2005 level.
In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) also known as climate action plans which has been submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India has laid stress on increase of renewable energy.
India has announced that it aims at achieving around 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
The conference is expected to attract close to 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organisations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society. (PTI)
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