World leaders meet at Paris-hosted UN climate summit to cut emissions

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some 150 world leaders including President Serzh Sargsyan are joining UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday, November 30, in kicking off two weeks of high-stakes climate talks near Paris, with organizers hoping the unprecedented high-level appearances will turbocharge the chances of reaching an ambitious deal to cut emissions that are warming the planet, the Associated Press reports.

Ban and French President Francois Hollande greeted heads of state and government from around the world as they arrived for the talks, shaking hands outside the conference center near the Le Bourget airfield just north of Paris. Alongside them stood the head of the UN climate change agency Christina Figueres and French Environment Minister Segolene Royal.

Each leader will then give a speech about what their countries are doing to reduce emissions and slow climate change. After the leaders leave, negotiators have two more weeks to work on a deal before the talks are scheduled to wrap up December 11.

The conference is aimed at the most wide-reaching deal ever to tackle global warming. The last major agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only required rich countries to cut emissions, and the U.S. never took part.

Among several sticking points is money — how much rich countries should invest to help poor countries cope with climate change, how much should be invested in renewable energy, and how much traditional oil and gas producers stand to lose if countries agree to forever reduce emissions.

19 countries currently invest about $10 billion a year total, about half of which comes from the U.S., Brian Deese, senior adviser to Obama on climate and energy issues, told reporters in Washington.