Paris readies to host climate change talks

Delegates to the two-week talks starting Monday insist they won’t let the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people in the French capital distract them from the task of crafting a landmark deal to fight global warming. If anything, some say, the bloodshed could make countries more determined to reach a deal to address a problem that’s widely seen as a factor that contributes to conflict. “There may be even more awareness of how important it is to address climate change, given the impact of climate change on the stability of countries,” said Dutch climate envoy Michel Rentenaar.

More than 140 leaders including US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jimping will attend the summit. The stepped-up security measures in Paris, a state of emergency throughout France has been extended for three months, mean that shuttling them around the city will be a major logistics challenge.

Citing security concerns, French authorities have stopped several events that were scheduled to take place outside the conference centre, including a big march that environmentalists had planned for Sunday. The negotiations themselves, however, are set to go ahead as planned amid tight security in the hermetically sealed conference centre in Le Bourget, just north of Paris. 

Seyni Nafo, the spokesman for the African Group of countries in the climate talks wondered if French President Francois Hollande can find the time and energy to devote himself fully to the climate talks, given his focus on terrorism and security. “Other than this I suspect the talks will remain mostly on course,” Nafo said. A top French official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the issue publicly, said Hollande “remains totally committed to this event and we are now conciliating it with an extraordinarily busy schedule.” Hollande notably maintained all his climate-related appointments last week, including a meeting with some African leaders on Tuesday and a speech to French farmers on Thursday.