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Positivity On First Day Of Paris Climate Talks

Tegan Wendland
/
WWNO
Public art displayed at the climate talks in Paris include an Eiffel Tower made of recycled plastic chairs.

The first day of the United Nations international climate talks has wrapped up at the Conference Of the Parties, or COP21, in Paris. As world leaders try to reach an agreement to limit global warming and stave off climate change, Louisiana has a lot at stake.

The climate talks are taking place at an expo center north of the city in Le Bourget. There are 150 heads of state present, making it the largest group of leaders ever to attend a UN event in a single day.

Thousands of people streamed through the main thoroughfare on Monday from nearly every country in the world as they attended meetings and negotiations. Huge colorful sculptures set the scene, called "Noah’s Climate Arc," they are made out of recycled plastic and include a lion, a pig and a bird. This playful scene is juxtaposed by the direness of the talks, as world leaders try to reach a binding agreement on climate change.

Credit Tegan Wendland / WWNO
/
WWNO
Participants of the climate talks walk in the main thoroughfare between venues, surrounded by art installations and media.

During opening remarks the COP21 president, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, said, “Either we fail here in Paris and we spread desolation everywhere, or we manage to conclude an ambitious agreement to take action against climate change and then a bright future will dawn.”

Security is tight at the site and across the city after terrorist attacks in Paris two weeks ago, which has heightened concerns as so many heads of state have poured in for the conference. Long lines waited for hours at customs ahead of the event, and armed police surrounded the conference site.

Large public gatherings in the city have been canceled by the president. Instead of the massive march they had planned, climate activists put thousands of donated shoes on display at the Place de la Republique, a square near the city center. But some protesters still chose to march and nearly 200 were arrested after police tear-gassed the group on Sunday.

Despite the events surrounding the talks, Jake Schmidt, Director of the National Resources Defense Council’s international program, says the overall tone is positive.

“I think it’s very different from where we were just a couple of years ago," Schmidt says. "So we have more than 170 countries that account for 90 percent of the world’s emissions that have come forward with plans – national targets that they envision putting into this agreement. That’s a huge shift from where we’re at, so we have a very solid foundation to build upon.”

Speakers, including U.S. President Barack Obama, called on governments to step up their efforts. Much of that centers around helping developing nations fund their efforts to reduce emissions and meet international goals.

UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon announced a new initiative to help countries with at-risk coastal areas. These are so-called frontline communities, the first to feel the impacts of climate change. The initiative will help countries anticipate hazards, absorb shocks, and reshape development to reduce climate risks.

But not much was said about frontline communities inside developed countries -- like New Orleans in the U.S. -- which also face challenges in funding, either to build more protection against extreme weather and rising seas, or to move elsewhere.

Jacqueline Patterson is Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Speaking during a panel at the conference, she noted the Green Climate Fund, formed in 2010. Developed nations are supposed to pay into it, to help developing countries transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. She says the U.S. should contribute more to that fund, and help more at home.

“We need aggressive ambition in both emissions reduction and in committing to the Green Climate Fund and other domestic mechanisms to ensure that the countries and communities have the resources that they need to reduce in climate-smart development and disaster risk reduction,” says Patterson.

Alden Meyer, director of policy with the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the U.S. needs to set up dedicated funding streams for its vulnerable coastal cities.

“For example, by putting a levee on extraction of fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas, with the funds to go into helping local communities that are on the frontline prepare for what’s coming at them,” says Meyer. “Because this is a case where an ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure.”

Support for the coastal desk’s reporting from Paris is provided by the Foundation for Louisiana.

Support also comes from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Coypu Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.

Tegan has reported on the coast for WWNO since 2015. In this role she has covered a wide range of issues and subjects related to coastal land loss, coastal restoration, and the culture and economy of Louisiana’s coastal zone, with a focus on solutions and the human dimensions of climate change. Her reporting has been aired nationally on Planet Money, Reveal, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, BBC, CBC and other outlets. She’s a recipient of the Pulitzer Connected Coastlines grant, CUNY Resilience Fellowship, Metcalf Fellowship, and countless national and regional awards.

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