The leaders of more than 150 nations in the world on November 30 opened an historic summit in Paris, France, with “the hope of all of humanity”, to seek a deal to avert the consequences of climate change.
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| French President Francois Hollande addresses the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21)__Photo: AFP/VNA |
The deal is also expected to indirectly restructure the world economy, weaning it off fossil fuels that stoke global warming.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), French President Francois Hollande said: “Never have the stakes of an international meeting been so high because it concerns the future of the planet, the future of life.”
The 12-day conference has the main goal to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate change, also known as the Paris Agreement 2015, that targets keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century in comparison with the 1850-1990 period.
If the Paris Agreement is adopted, this will be the first time over two decades of negotiations within the United Nations framework that the international community reaches a binding agreement with the involvement of major greenhouse gas emitters, including developed and developing countries.
According to experts, unless action to curb greenhouse gases is taken soon, mankind will endure ever-worsening droughts, floods, storms and rising seas, threatening millions with hunger, disease and migration and low-lying island nations with oblivion.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung speaks at the Conference__Photo: Duc Tam/VNA |
On the sidelines of the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and Vice President of the World Bank, Laura Tusk, co-chaired a high-level dialogue on the cooperation between Vietnam and international partners in coping with challenges of climate change in Mekong River Delta.
The dialogue attracted the participation of representatives from many countries, international and Vietnamese organizations as well as provincial authorities from the Mekong River Delta.
Stressing on the priority of investment in the region, Dung said the Vietnamese Government was focusing on undertaking activities against the impacts from climate change and sea level rise by integrating them with economic restructuring and sustainable socio-economic development in the region.
Vietnam continued to boost management of damage caused by natural disasters by setting effective urbanization plans, the Prime Minister said, stressing the role of communication in improving people’s and businesses’ awareness about and participation in environment activities.- (VNS/VLLF)
