“Such events may not be cancelled but certainly be scaled down from security point of view”, said Sanjay Vashist, director of the Climate Action Network (CAN), South Asia. Mainstream activists say they will follow the government’s call, specifically the ban on rallies, should the state of emergency extend throughout the time of the conference.
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“We are in the process of looking at that but everything which was outside of the COP (climate talks), a whole series of concerts, of rather festive events, will be without a doubt cancelled”, Mr Valls said.
Hundreds pay tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Paris at the Place de la République.
US President Barack Obama has said he still intends to attend the summit, and Valls said none of the 120-odd heads of state or government who accepted invitations to the opening had asked for a postponement.
It is not certain whether Šefčovič will still meet Ségolène Royal, France’s energy minister, as was planned on Monday evening in Paris.
“It will go ahead with reinforced security measures”, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in Vienna on Saturday, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
In a message sent Monday afternoon, Nicolas Haeringer, an official with 350.org, stated, “We fully share their concerns about public safety-just as we fully oppose any unnecessary crackdowns on civil liberties and minority populations”.
As investigations into the Paris terror attacks are ramping up, France announced that the UN Climate Summit will be restricted to core negotiations.
The 2 C goal has been enshrined in the long-running talks – held under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – since 2010.
Leaders of the world’s top economies have vowed to seek a deal to stave off catastrophic global warming at the Paris conference, according to a draft statement drawn up on Monday. The 2009 summit in Copenhagen had failed to reach a global agreement.
It’s still unclear what this means for additional side events, such as Pathway to Paris, a concert-focused event that plans to bring together high-profile artists, musicians, activists and innovators to highlight solutions to climate change.
The United Nations estimates that more than 60,000 people including world leaders, envoys, representatives of NGOs, and the press will be in Paris to attend the conference.
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“I don’t see these attacks having any substantial bearing on the substance of the negotiations”, said Alden Meyer, who has followed the climate talks for more than two decades at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington based advocacy group.
