In addition to his meetings with the Chinese and Indian leaders, Mr Obama will meet next Tuesday with representatives of island nations most at risk from rising sea levels.
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Pope Franziskus and other religious leaders have reminded us that we have a moral responsibility to act in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable. China and India rightly point out that climate change is largely the result of the first world’s unrestrained use of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. “Finance will be a real issue of negotiations”, they said.
Campaign group Avaaz’s campaign director Iain Keith said: “While we know what gets agreed won’t be the final destination in this journey, it could be a big step in the right direction”.
The trip follows this week’s meeting with 11 Premiers and Territorial Leaders which allegedly ended with unanimous support to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and an agreement to sit down in three months to work out details on a plan to hopefully rebrand Canada’s climate change image on the world stage.
In a clear sign of the importance of this meeting, 127 heads of state will attend the conference’s opening, including President Obama, China’s President Xi Jinping and prime ministers David Cameron of Great Britain and Narendra Modi of India.
“These two countries are two of our most important partners in dealing with global climate change”, Bodnar said noting Obama has had a number of engagements with the two leaders over the course of this year.
De Guzman said failure of the forthcoming climate negotiations isn’t an option for the Philippines.
Talks open Monday in Paris among 196 countries seeking consensus on a new climate agreement to cover the post-2020 period. India has been pressing for more money and technology transfers from wealthy countries to developing ones.
With warming of 3 degrees, developing countries would be forced to spend an additional US$270 billion a year by 2050 on climate adaptation policies, the report found. China, Brazil, and more than 150 countries representing over 90% of global emissions have announced climate targets, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). However, this agreement could help ensure that American action is met with global action to reduce the impact of climate change and preserve a planet that is worthy of our children.
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He declined to name the members of the team but said they are from CCC, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), other government agencies with climate change-related concerns as well as Office of the Presidential Adviser on Environmental Protection.
