The world is at a critical juncture with regard to the climate challenge and 2015 will be a decisive year. If the COP21 in Paris fails to deliver, the already declining faith of the general public in international climate negotiations will be further damaged.
• Paris is often compared to the 2009 COP15 in Copenhagen, as this will be the first opportunity since COP15 to deliver a new global agreement that would include the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, namely the United States, China and India.
• France’s whole-of-government approach and its engagement in climate diplomacy around the world in the lead up to this event will likely significantly help to facilitate a positive momentum for COP21.
• The biggest challenge to date is that much of the architecture for an agreement remains to be determined and the governments only have a limited time to overcome their own difficulties as well as mutual differences to ensure collective action beyond 2020.
• While the spotlight is on the major emitters, France also recognizes the importance of engaging the emerging economies of Southeast Asia in the build-up to COP21, due to the region’s rapidly growing energy demand.