The UN Conference on Climate Change, dubbed as COP21 starts today in Paris. The conference will be attended by national leaders of 147 countries and 195 country negotiators. The aim of the conference is to agree on a new approach to global change that will be instituted globally. Paris is hosting the event from November 30 to December 11, 2015.
Under tight security
With what has happened in Paris a few weeks back, it is no surprise that security was very tight around the venue, with Parisian police locking down the conference center located in Le Bouget, closing roads and implementing very tight security in and around the venue. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will chair the conference in its entirety.
Prime ministers and presidents will address the conference attendees with high hopes of an agreement being reached, while the poor countries around the world fear they would be left behind in the clamor for a new agreement.
Citizen rallies and actions
Citizen groups and organizations around the world staged their own versions of marches, rallies and protests for climate change. They are demanding the world leaders to come up with an action plan to limit the rise of the average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels worldwide. Rallies and gatherings vary from the performance of traditional rituals in Bogota, Colombia, mud baths in Rio de Janeiro to sad Santas in New York City.
COP 21
Today’s conference is the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP). National leaders would be discussing a new worldwide agreement to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gas in an effort to avoid the threat of global warming due to the activities done by humans. The national leaders would only stay for the conference for one day and are expected to make various important announcements, particularly on the push for investments on clean energy technology. Already known is that India and France have a global alliance to gather 100 countries rich is solar energy to quickly expand the availability of solar-generated electricity.
An initiative composed of 19 private individuals and governments, with the participation of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates will set up a private- and public-sourced $20 billion fund for the development of low cost and clean energy programs annually from year 2020. Bill Gates is expected to donate $1 billion. Governments including the UK, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, China and the U.S. are expected to pledge to double their spending in the next five years on low carbon technology, with the United States pouring in about $10 billion annually in clean technology research.
The nations in Europe are working with the World Bank and have already announced plans for a $500 million fund to aid developing countries in lowering their greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative, called Transformative Carbon Asset Facility will be supported by Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Image credit: United nations conference on climate change
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