MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The 21st United Nations conference on climate change will be held in Le Bourget, France, from November 30 until December 11. Participants will discuss global warming and ways to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
Kerry told The Financial Times on Wednesday that he expected summit participants to agree on measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions but there were "not going to be legally binding reduction targets like Kyoto."
The Paris climate agreement, whatever its form, is expected to come into effect in 2020. It would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol – an international treaty that failed to introduce stricter emission regulations for developing countries, and was never ratified by the United States, one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas emitters.
According to Kerry, there is a problem with "attitudes about climate change" in Congress and an "ideological barrier" that is making it difficult for the United States to move ahead with its climate improvement measures, such as allocating $3 billion to help developing countries combat global warming.
As of the end of October, 155 countries, including Australia, Russia, the United States and EU member states, have submitted their goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference.
