(Courtesy CCTV) — French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Saturday handed over the key to Le Bourget to United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres, a symbol to shift the administration power of the commune to the UN ahead of the 2015 UN climate change conference in Paris.
Receiving the “Key of Hope”, Figueres said she appreciates what France has done for the climate conference.
After the ceremony, the French foreign minister took the UN climate chief on a tour of the Le Bourget conference venue which is capable of accommodating 2,000 people.
At a following press conference, Fabius said he hopes the conference will yield positive outcomes.
“First of all, there is a great awareness that this is something that is extremely important. Secondly, scientists have published extremely valid, sound work cooperating these facts, and I think we have to also commend the works that have been carried out by the IPCC. Thirdly, many of the large carbon emitters have committed themselves as well in a very decisive way to fighting climate change, China is a good example, the United States and others as well, and all these elements are extremely positive,” said Fabius.
Meanwhile, Figueres reviewed the consensus the parties reached on accepting distinguished but common political responsibility at the 2014 Lima Climate Conference.
“We now have 183 out of 194 total countries that are parties to the convention. As minister Fabius has said, we have almost 95 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions already covered by national climate change plans. It is the first time in history that so many countries have actually incurred into the exercise of doing their own analysis at home to figure out and quantify how they can contribute to the solution,” she said.
The 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference will begin on Sunday.
