World Leaders Meet to Discuss the Environment
The conference is scheduled to last until December 18, and is being attended by representatives from more than 200 nations.
During the meetings, delegates from each of the participating nations will work together to debate and ultimately find a solution to Earth’s growing global warming problem. The opening day of the conference mainly served as a way to set the tone for the meetings. As the conference’s mission was established, delegates from each country were able to solidify their stances on the issue in preparation for the ensuing debates.
The most key debates and discussions will take place later during the conference when higher-level government officials and eventually heads of state will arrive and take part themselves.
What does the Conference want to achieve?
One of the main discussions that will be seen throughout the conference is that of lowering the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted throughout the world. This topic has already come to the forefront of discussion on only the first day of the conference. The greenhouse debates have particularly centered around lowering the emissions of large industrial nations like China and the United States.
During the discussions today, several countries announced that they have created emissions goals to regulate the amount of greenhouse produced in the near future. Among the reforming countries are China, Brazil, the United States, India and South Africa. Criticism of these plans, however, has stated that the changes the plans would make are not large enough to curb the Earth’s steadily rising temperature over the next few decades.
The conference stated a main goal of keeping the earth’s temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial temperatures. All of the plans and decisions made during the conference will be used in attempt to stay below the two degree Celsius target.
