UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, watches French President Francois Hollande hugging UN climate chief Christiana Figueres after the final conference of the COP21 in Paris
Just a month after the Paris attacks, France has surmounted that atrocity to help achieve a seemingly unachievable triumph: uniting the world to seal a global climate pact.
The Paris climate agreement, adopted on Saturday, was the culmination of more than a year of intense diplomatic efforts by France. Delegates and foreign dignitaries cheered Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the host of the two-week talks, and gave him a standing ovation.
“It’s rare in life to be able to move things forward at the planet level,” Fabius said, visibly moved after coming out of the plenary room.
France is seen as the inventor of the concept of modern diplomacy, and this conference proved that the country is still a master of the art. Foreign officials highlighted Fabius’ role in the success of the talks, heaping praise on him and France, which has a smaller diplomatic corps than the U.S. and China.
“You have done a superb job as everybody has said,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Fabius on Saturday, expressing the Obama administration’s “deepest gratitude to France.”
EU climate chief Arias Canete said “France has united the world. This deal embodies the strength of the French nation.” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon praised Fabius’ “leadership.”
Maldives Foreign Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States, said the French made several smart moves, including having world leaders come in at the beginning of the talks — not at the end like in Copenhagen.
The 2009 conference in Denmark, which failed to deliver a climate deal, was on the minds of all negotiators as the worst case scenario.
“From the very beginning the French were conscious of the Copenhagen failure,” Ibrahim said.
In a unique gathering, 151 heads of state headed to Paris to give a political push on the first day of the conference — just over two weeks after attacks claimed by Islamic State killed 130 people in Paris.
“I think the French have been playing this incredibly well,” said Jennifer Morgan, global climate program director for the World Resources Institute. “It took hard work, grit and guts, but countries have finally united around a historic agreement that marks a turning point on the climate crisis.” Sylvie Corbet, Le Bourget, AP
No Comments