11/30/2015, 00.00
FRANCE - UN
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Paris: difficult negotiations underway in COP21 on climate change

The goal of the 21st Conference of the Parties is to reduce global warming by 2 degrees Celsius. But less developed countries complain that the limit is not sufficient to ensure their economic development. Yesterday peaceful climate march marred by clashes between thugs and the police. Hollande: "Scandalous events there where there are flowers, candles and other mementos in memory of the victims of the Paris attacks."

Paris (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The UN Global Conference on the challenges of climate change has opened in Paris attended by delegations from 195 countries and about 150 heads of state and government.

The main discussion will focus on the problem of global warming and the limits to be imposed to curb rising temperatures. The negotiations will not be easy and poor countries have already expressed concerns about being ignored in the discussions. To exacerbate already strained positions yesterday there were clashes between police and protesters in the French capital still reeling from the terrorist attacks of two weeks ago, which ended with the detention of 174 people.

World leaders are meeting today at the COP21, the 21st Conference of the Parties since 1995 under the aegis of the United Nations to discuss the challenges posed by climate change. On this occasion, the working groups will discuss how to reduce the temperature of the planet, to avoid disastrous consequences such as rising sea levels and desertification.

The objective is to lower global warming by 2 ° C. But some politicians complain about the ineffectiveness of the measures, more suited to developed countries than to poor ones. Giza Gaspar Martins, representative of Angola to the UN, told the BBC that "economic development, food security, the survival of ecosystems and populations of less developed countries are at risk if the negotiations to discuss reducing temperatures only up at 2 ° C ". He adds, "Most of the projects that will be presented during the meetings have the goal of 2 ° C, but increased warming over 1.5 ° C is already disastrous for the economies and public health in these countries. We renew our call for a robust climate, ambitious and binding agreement, that does not ignore the most vulnerable of us”.

Discussions are destined to be sensitive about a topic but can no longer be ignored, as also recalled by Pope Francis.

Yesterday, meanwhile, there were clashes between protesters and police. Thousands of people had peacefully joined in a march through the streets of Paris, also taking in the places targeted in the recent terrorist massacres of 13 November.

The event, however, was transformed by dozens of vandals who sparked clashes with police deployed in the Place de la Republique in memory of the victims.

French President Hollande denounced the incidents as "scandalous" and an affront to the memorials "there were candels, flowers and other mementos in memory of the victims." Police arrested 289 people, including 174 held after the catch.

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