With the Lyon Climate conference over, the focus is now on the November summit in Paris to clinch an elusive deal to stop global warming.
ADVERTISEMENTTalks on climate change are moving at a snail’s pace. That was the criticism levelled by UN chief Ban Ki-moon this week. Climate negotiators fear that November’s climate summit in Paris will be the graveyard for a deal to stop temperatures rising above 2 degrees celsius.
It’s a view shared by Samantha Smith, Leader WWF Global Climate & Energy Initiative attending the Lyon climate conference.
“This is probably going to be the hottest year ever. And thousands of people have already died in India, in Pakistan, as a result of extreme heatwaves this year. So in that context I would not want to say that I am optimistic.”
After two days of talks and workshops looking at how cities can contribute to combatting climate change, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo was more positive:
“What we need is a peaceful revolution which brings about an environmental transition, whether as a rich country or a developing country, we must use our resources sustainably and of course use renewables.”
With the Lyon conference focusing on laying the groundwork for climate change goals on a local level over, the work to nail down an agreement for a deal on a global level continues, as euronews correspondent Fabien Farge explains:
“With five months to go until the Paris climate summit, the race is on. After the Lyon conference, more than 2,000 researchers from around the world will gather in Paris from next week to discuss climate change.”