‘Life on planet at stake’, France warns as climate ministers meet

“It is life on our planet itself which is at stake,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told journalists as ministers and climate envoys from 70 countries met for pre-summit talks to iron out tough political questions.

 

With the key UN conference just three weeks away, he also announced that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin would attend the November 30 opening.

 

Russia, a major oil producer, is seen as a deal-maker or -breaker in the years-long attempt to negotiate the world’s first truly universal pact to curb climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.

 

“There is absolute urgency,” said Fabius, to achieve the UN goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

 

The UN’s climate science panel has warned of an average temperature rise of “four, five, six degrees, if we do not act extremely quickly,” he said.

 

“This would have catastrophic consequences because there would be drought… and colossal migration problems, including problems of war and peace.”

 

Read More: ‘Life on planet at stake’, France warns as climate ministers meet – Yahoo News