UN Climate Talks Will Go On, Paris To Beef Up Security

UN Climate Change Secretariat spokesman Nick Nuttall assures, “Security at United Nations climate conferences is always tight but understandably it will be even tighter for Paris”.

The issue has been a fraught one for many campaigners and organisers, not least because several were caught up in horror of the Paris attacks.

“To do otherwise would, I believe, be to yield to terrorism”.

Showtime aired a new episode of “Homeland”, its drama that involved fighting Middle East extremism, on Sunday with a printed message beforehand that warned viewers that the show may contain disturbing content in the context of the Paris attacks.

Among those who confirmed their attendance are U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. That sentiment was seconded by a European diplomat speaking on Saturday. If we say [in France] that we have the right to keep our way of life, to go to cafes and drink wine – we also have the right and the duty to be in the streets and keep the momentum for the climate justice movement. “My feeling is heads of state will still go, unless they absolutely can not”. More than 14,000 people including foreign delegates, members of NGOs and media are expected to be in Paris for two weeks for this mega climate summit. Then there will be the demonstrators, there to put pressure on politicians to find a meaningful solution.

The resulting congestion will dramatically increase the risk, all while France vows a “merciless” response to the attack. The Islamic State (IS or ISIS) has claimed responsibility, describing the assault as an act of war.

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) chaired by France will be held in Le Bourget, France, from November 30 to December 11.

The attacks have already disrupted a few of the fanfare. It is expected that the event, participated by concerned citizens and NGOs to sensitize the world leaders for arriving at an effective climate deal to save the earth, will be scaled down due to many security-related restrictions.

“There might be certain people who, like with Charlie Hebdo, choose to come to make a statement on this”.

Organizers are hoping to imitate a “People’s Climate March” in NY past year that attracted hundreds of thousands of people, the largest protest against global warming in history.

Alice Jay, campaign director for Avaaz, said the coalition of groups organising the march had met to discuss their next steps after the horrific attacks in Paris.

The Paris Summit on Climate Change is the 21st meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, giving it the designation COP21.