The Paris COP21 climate summit in numbers

But what are they all about?

We are going to the Paris Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) with a positive mindset, and are fairly confident that an agreement would be reached on the climate change action plan for 2020-30.

What are the talks about? Over the two weeks of CoP21, 147 heads of state will attempt to negotiate a global agreement to mitigate the potentially devastating effects of climate change.

Why do we need a new deal? Only through the United Nations can we respond collectively to this quintessentially global issue.

Rising temperatures will lead to sea level rises, more intense storms and flooding, more extreme droughts, water shortages and heatwaves – as well as massive loss of wildlife and reduction in crop yields, potentially sparking conflict and mass migration.

Who is taking part in the talks? This news is actually heart-breaking and at the same time puts up a thousand concerns and doubts in the heart of green-lovers that whether our leaders are actually serious about climate change?

That is why I care so deeply about climate change, he concluded.

As a response to criticism that rich countries’s economic activities in the past were responsible for climate change, a US$100 billion Green Climate Fund was set up for developing countries by their developed counterparts. It’s no wonder, in that context, that so little has been agreed upon in more than 20 years of talks. “But the developed world must also vacate the carbon space”, Javadekar said.

We will not get there overnight, the United Nations chief stated. The cost of solar cells has fallen by around 80 per cent since 2008 and more investment is being ploughed into clean energy technologies all the time.

India’s efforts to combat the global challenge of climate change ahead of #COP 21-the UN Climate Change Summit will be highlighted in a live “Talkathon” today organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The Paris conference will benefit from lessons learned from earlier failures, but it will also benefit from recent technological leaps that have made renewable energy a real, viable alternative. Of the 196 countries participating, 178 have already submitted so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or INDCs – essentially public pledges that illustrate how much they will reduce emissions and what form that would take. But the government believes that the various national level commitments announced before COP21 are not enough to keep global warming below the 2°C threshold by 2100.

This meant each country accepting that its national climate action plan would be reviewed independently every five years. In fact, it has been 50 years since the threats of climate change were raised by scientists.

What could go wrong in getting a deal? India has been pressing for more money and technology transfers from wealthy countries to developing ones. The climate change conference in Paris is not the end point.

The aim of the conference is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, from all nations of the world and boost the transition towards resilient, low-carbon societies and economies.