UN climate change conference begins amid tight security

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) has begun in the northeastern suburb of the capital Paris where world leaders have started to arrive amid tight security.

An estimated 150 heads of states, including Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Barack Obama will attend the conference. French President Francois Hollande, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and French Environment minister Segolene Royal could be seen welcoming world leaders at the entrance of the conference venue in Le Bourget, a northeastern suburb of the capital Monday.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who was president of the last climate change conference, said: “We can show the world that we can work together against climate change and global terrorism.

"This is the time in which we are framing the new paradigm of development for the next generations… Let's move this discussion toward an agreement. I am sure and optimistic that we can do it".

Pulgar-Vidal then handed the presidency of the Conference of the Parties at its 21st session to Fabius.

“I declare Mr. Laurent Fabius elected as the president of the COP21 in Paris,” said Pulgar –Vidal as he passed the gavel to Fabius.

“We have just 11 short days before us… Success is not acquired, but it is within our reach and we are obliged to succeed,” Fabius said.

A moment of silence for the victims of the Nov.13 attacks in Paris was also held at the opening session.

"The city of light is now, more than ever, a beacon of hope, Paris must be where the world unites as one," Figueres said, adding: "The world is looking to you, the world is counting on you".  

Organizers expect 40,000 participants, making it the largest so-called Conference of Parties (COP) ever. "Good morning, world. At #COP21 entrance welcoming heads of state. We must, we can, we will," Figueres tweeted Monday.

France beefed up security ahead of the summit following the Nov.13 deadly gun-and-bomb attacks that claimed 130 lives in Paris. A total of 10,800 security forces were deployed, with 8,000 police and gendarmes forces carrying out border checks and 2,800 posted at the conference venue. A total of 120,000 police and troops had already been mobilized across France since the Nov.13 attacks, after which French President Francois Hollande announced a state of emergency, which was extended for a further three months.

The delegates of the 196 parties will hold meetings and discussions from Dec. 1 to Dec. 6 in a bid to strike a deal on carbon emissions regulations meant to keep the global average temperature within two degrees Celsius of what it was at the dawn of the industrial revolution.

They will try to narrow down the draft text issued at the end of the last session in Bonn, while the second week is reserved for political negotiations to hammer out eventual disagreements.

The key issues to be determined in Paris will be the system to review and scale up emission reductions over time, together with a long-term goal, climate finance, a loss and damage mechanism and the legal force of the “Paris Agreement”.

The negotiations will conclude on Dec. 9 in order to carry out legal and linguistic verifications of the agreement text in six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and decisions will be adopted on Dec. 10.

The Paris Agreement will be officially adopted on Dec. 11. The signing is not planned for the same day, but for early 2016, during a ceremony organized by the United Nations secretary-general.

Climate change protests

On the eve of the Paris climate summit Sunday, 22,000 pairs of shoes - including that of Pope Francis and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, were placed at Place de la Republique, in Paris on behalf of the 400,000 people who planned to march in the French capital but were stopped by French authorities for security reasons following the Paris attacks.

However, thousands of people challenged the decision on Sunday and showed up holding hands, singing and dancing. Later, riot police stopped the march and also fired teargas at the participants. According to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, 208 people were arrested after clashes with police; while some were later released, 174 remained in detention.

The Climate Action Network, a worldwide network of over 950 nongovernmental organizations, said that over 570,000 people around the world took to the streets over the weekend "to urge leaders to scale up action on climate change to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, eliminate poverty and protect people from worsening climate impacts."

France's landmark, the Eiffel Tower, was also lit up in green, projecting environmentally conscious messages about renewable energy and protecting forests such as "1 Heart 1 Tree" and "100 percent Renewable". The tower will remain lit like a tree through Thursday.