The United Nations' climate conference in Paris will proceed later this month as planned, and President Barack Obama is still scheduled to attend despite a series of terrorist attacks in the city Friday that killed at least 127 people.
White House officials said Saturday that Obama is still slated to join dozens of world leaders for the U.N. climate talks in Le Bourget, France, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. The talks will continue through Dec. 11 as diplomats work to finalize a new agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stave off catastrophic global warming, reported Politico.
A string of deadly shootings and bombings rocked Paris Friday, leaving at least 127 people dead. The Islamic State group has reportedly claimed responsibility.
French officials vowed that the climate negotiations, which took months to plan, would continue with beefed up security. The talks "must be held," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told AFP Saturday.
The conference "will be held with enhanced security measures, but this is an absolutely indispensable action against climate change," Fabius added, according to the Associates Press.
Along with more than 100 world leaders attending the talks – including Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping – thousands of other officials, delegates, journalists and protesters are expected to make the trip to the northeast side of Paris for the event, reported The Hill.
Obama has made tackling climate change a key component of his presidency and stressed that reaching an ambitious and sustainable deal at the climate talks is critical to fighting global warming.
While 146 countries have already submitted plans to reduce their greenhouse gasses, global emissions are still expected to rise, meaning that the participating countries must agree to accelerate their efforts after the climate summit and also establish legally binding mechanisms to hold each other accountable for their pledges, according to Jennifer Morgan, global director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute.
"Despite the unprecedented level of effort, this report finds that current commitments are not yet sufficient to meet what the world needs," Morgan said in a statement, reported The Washington Post. "Countries must accelerate their efforts after the Paris summit in order to stave off climate change. The global climate agreement should include a clear mandate for countries to ramp up their commitments and set a long-term signal to phase out emissions as soon as possible."
